


Can't Help It

by ryanexhale



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Gen, Houndour - Freeform, Psyduck - Freeform, double team
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25540342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryanexhale/pseuds/ryanexhale
Summary: A human tries to save the world while his partner continues to drag him around by foot. Their journey gets out of hand.(fka Double Team)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	1. Act 1: One Hell of an Entrance / Day 1: One Hell of an Entrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A human tries to save the world while his partner continues to drag him around by foot. Their journey gets out of hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter is undergoing dialogue and narration revisions at the moment. None of the main ideas of the plot will be changed, but some scenarios may be tamed or altered.)

He didn’t really have the slightest idea of what’s going on. It’s as if he’s just woken up from a heavy sleep. He wasn’t sure what that voice he was hearing in his head was saying, and he honestly didn’t have the slightest idea what answers he was giving either. Honestly, he wasn’t really thinking straight, or taking this quiz seriously. He was only hoping that he was answering honestly. Questions came and went, and soon he was told that he was a… Psyduck? He felt like he was going to burst out any second now. He was about to say, “Heh, but I’m actually a human, you know that? Heh, right? Wait...” But he was already being sucked into the… what did that voice say again? Pokémon world? Oh yeah. Right.

He did remember being told that he was being sent there to save the world. Save the world? But he doesn’t really consider himself as some hero. He was always screwing things up. He wasn’t exactly the right material for anything, He was this college student being tormented by everyone. He was just a loser who never really amounted to anything, and all he did was waste what could have been meaningful hours on nothing. He's nothing but a quitter, he was truly nothing more than that. But he didn’t have time to object before his mind went blank.  
  


\----- ----- -----  
  
“Alright honey, you’ve been spending a lot of your time leaning on the counter, your paw on your chin, your eyes staring at literally anything, and always making the ‘hmm’ sound, instead of actually thinking.” Kangaskhan was, admittedly, starting to feel a little irritated.  
“Don’t assume what I'm doing, thanks.” A customer replied. "...Mom." He pointed back as he continued leaning on the counter with his paw on his chin, and all that.  
  
To be honest, Kangaskhan is able to tolerate this lost and sassy kid. At first, she found him annoying and sometimes a waste of her time, but you can imagine how long this kept up that now, all she could feel about him was a certain feeling called “disappointment”.  
  
After an amount of time that felt like the universe restarted itself, he finally ordered, “Oh, right. Oran Berry.” Kangaskhan fled to her storage system and returned with just one Oran Berry on the counter.  
“You’re welcome,” she said, as her customer left without even a thanks. “What’s up with that child?” she asked herself. "...What did he call himself again..? Hounds, they say?"  
  
Hounds walked all the way through Resilire Town, pushing off anyone in his path. But even then Pokémon would rather keep a distance from him anyway. A good distance away.  
  
There was no denying that Hounds wasn’t the best Pokémon in the town. Almost the whole town hates him. The jerk who always ranted in incredible length about how much he had to pay for Kecleon’s prices, bringing up scamming every five seconds, over actually fair prices. The jerk who was able to take on a large number of works called zero effort compared to his team members who do so much, procrastinating rescue team jobs, greedily taking his team member’s dinner if they arrive late because “first come, first served”, even spending even more minutes than anyone would like to admit... watching Kenna. He seemed to be really entertained. Anyone would pray to Arceus for that poor and timid Fennekin, hoping that she would still be ok, she didn’t deserve this… Why bother keeping him in the town in the first place?  
  
But no one could stop that terrible excuse of a Houndour, or a Pokémon at all, from walking on the road towards his rescue team base, mumbling to himself about how much of a pushover his teammates are. When suddenly, he tripped and fell on his path.  
Normally, If he happened to trip on a rock or stone, which doesn’t usually happen, he’d just stare at it. With an expression of pain. Which was amusing to think about, because everyone thought he was too thick to feel. Then he'd carry on like normal. The catch is, in this case, he wasn’t in a very good mood today.  
  
He kicked the random floor-hugging Psyduck. It was woken up by the heavy blow before Hounds could give a full beating.  
  
“Hey, I'm awake, I'm awake.” Other than the yelp, the Psyduck... Didn't actually give any more reaction to the pain. Either way Hounds was ready to land another hit, but honestly, he was confused by this weird Pokemon. Sure, it interrupted his little stroll, but does this joke really deserve the effort?  
  
”What the hell do you want?” he asked the clueless Psyduck.  
“I don't mean harm, I don't mean harm…” Alex waved his hands. "...Good boy, good boy... Hold on, did you just talk?"  
Wow. This Pokémon REALLY is hopeless. And a little insulting. And a little weird. Is he even a Pokémon? “Anyways, I have more important matters to deal with, so I'm asking you to kindly get lost, and don't try to get in my way again… or, well… You don’t want to get in my way.” Hounds continued in his path. Not his problem if that idiot got attacked by wild Pokémon.  
  
“But…” he stopped in his tracks. He thought, “…I can’t waste this opportunity. Maybe I can break free from that useless hag Raichu.” Then, Hounds had a reason to rush back to the weird Psyduck.  
“Did you just mention that I can talk?"  
"What?"  
"Alright, a more important question, do you want to join me in a Rescue Team?”  
“Hey, what?”  
“A rescue team.”  
"What's that?"  
"A team that rescues." Hounds didn't think first before answering.  
"Oh, that sounds like a reasonable explanation."  
  
There was a bit of silence.  
  
“What’s a rescue team?” The Psyduck’s brain was admittedly getting even more confused by the second.   
  
“Y’know, they save some random failures who got stuck in Mystery Dungeons.” Hounds explained. “There are some benefits to saving losers, you can get paid, you can get… err…"  
"Yeah."  
"...paid.” He prefers to not go too far into the details. “Yep, you can get Poke, berries, items, and g… gold, from doing this pretty simple chore!”  
Hounds finished his explanation. Then he had to look at the Psyduck's face again, which hasn't changed a bit. Hounds was starting to get really pissed.  
"What?"  
"...That honestly sounds pretty depressing, buddy."  
"I-" Hounds puffed, ready to land another hit on the Psyduck, which he probably should've done earlier. "What did you say?!"  
"Wait, did I say something?" The Psyduck said.  
He turned the other way to observe what was behind him. Then he looked up to the sky, watching the bird Pokémon fly by above the forest. Then he turned and turned to his left, and soon he was facing Hounds again.  
"...Hold on, where am I?"

Hounds didn't really know what to do at this point. So he checked on the expression on the Psyduck’s face... It shouted “I have so many questions right now”, but at the same time nothing at all.  
  
Then the Psyduck suddenly asked, “What’s a Mystery Dungeon?”  
  
“Oh, a Mystery Dungeon? Mystery Dungeons are places that…” Hounds is starting to get tired of having to explain the entire world to this... this idiot! Did he even listen to anything he just said?  
“Hold on, I know! Follow me!” Soon, the next thing the Psyduck felt was his head hitting the ground, a paw on his right leg, a turn and forward movement.  
  
"So, quick tip." Hounds spoke during the small journey. "Did you know that..." He already lost the Psyduck's attention, it seemed. "...It's pretty easy to navigate, I'd say easier than pretty much every dungeon around here, don't have to worry too much." Hounds then shifted his voice to a more quieter and colder tone. "...So easy that even a Spearow would know how to make his way out." The Psyduck heard his whisper anyway.  
  
"Oh, where was I again?" Hounds' voice seemed to jump a bit. "Alright, time to save the world!"  
  
He was sure Hounds was sarcastic. But what if it was really true? Maybe if so, being dragged into what Hounds apparently called “Haunted Hollow” against his own will wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
\----- ----- -----  
  
As they ventured into the Haunted Hollow, fending off dungeon ferals, collecting sweet sweet Poké it was somehow that Psyduck leading the team. It’s probably just Hounds using the dim-wit as a body shield, but it probably didn’t matter. They reached the end of the dungeon, after all.  
  
“Hounds! I can’t believe it, You’ve come back for me!” A Spearow exclaimed.  
“Shut up. Sad bird.” Hounds shot back at them. “You know, for a rescuer, you seem too scared about being in what’s basically a LEVEL ONE mystery dungeon.”  
“Hey, who's that?” the Psyduck asked.  
“Oh, he’s one of the failures that I was talking about earlier. Just a regular Pokémon.” Houndour whispered to Psyduck. “Definitely not another one of my teammates…” He mumbled in a quieter voice that everyone in the room could still hear anyway.  
  
“Ok, because yeah. You're Spearow…” Hounds reached into his Treasure Bag for his Rescue Team badge (which by the way, was the same badge as theirs) and shone it on the Pokémon.  
  
A magical power carried the Psyduck, Hounds, and Spearow outside of the Mystery Dungeon.  
  
“Thank you Hounds for saving me.” The Spearow said.  
“Ok, you’re welcome and all, but where’s the rewards?”  
“Uhh… rewards? Hounds?”  
The next thing they knew, Hounds took a decent amount of Berries and Poke from his Treasure Bag.  
The poor Flying-type Pokémon left for their Rescue Team Base, disappointed.  
  
After a long pause, Hounds said, “So… did you understand my explanation?”  
The Psyduck’s face still kept that same expression as before he was being dragged into the dungeon.  
“I’ll… uhh… take that as a yes.” Hounds said, “I’m not in the mood to drag you back into Horror Hollow, or uh, wait what was that Mystery Dungeon called- oh wait, no one cares, it’s the easiest Dungeon in these parts.”  
“Okay..?”  
“So you see, yep, that was a dungeon."  
"I can see that." The Psyduck glanced back at the entrance behind him, then faced back to Hounds.  
"Every time you go there, the walls change. Everything change. Except for some Pokémon that gave up on life for whatever reason. We save some loser, and then you get paid by that loser.” Hounds summarized. “See, look at this amount of Poké!”  
The Psyduck clearly remembers that Houndour taking those items.  
  
“So… with that done, again, do you want to start a Rescue Team with me? I’m definitely not part of an existing one, I have dreams of getting Poke, berries, items, and gi- GOLD!” Hounds corrected himself at the last second. “So what do you say?”  
"..."  
"...What?"  
“Uhh… No.” The Psyduck said. "You go have your heartbreaking fun and games you call dreams, I have more important matters to deal with. Sayonara." He walked past by Hounds almost immediately, but before he could go far from Hounds, he heard the noise of the ground being dragged. “Alright, no, we’re a rescue team now. They call me Hounds. What’s yours anyway?”  
It took him a little while more to register that heavy weight that was clutching on to him, but somehow his feet didn't as he went through his hike, normal speed.  
  
At this point, the Psyduck was able to barely remember his name. He answered with “Alex.”  
“Ok, so. Brain-dead, alright, got it-“ Hounds stopped. “Wait… Al… What. What is that name?” he couldn’t contain himself. He forgot he was holding on to Alex, and soon he was rolling on the floor, wiping tears from his eyes, all because the Psyduck’s name was “Alex.”  
On the other hand, Alex simply stared at him. He wasn't even hurt at all. He was just... He felt nothing. It was the pain of being exhausted from little children.  
  
“Oh, alright. Your name is A-Alex-“ He was gagging, trying not to burst out again. “Alright, got it. What’s the team name anyway?”  
He may not have cared to listen this time , and even if he did, he would usually not take them seriously. But even at times when he did listen or care, Alex was never the best with questions. “Team name? Maybe Team is a good name.”  
“Team... What?" Hounds stared. “Umm... Geesh... Please tell me you're kidding me."  
"Nah." Alex shrugged.  
"O-okay, if someone, anyone asks for our team name, I’m going to say it was your idea, so it won’t be me taking the L’s for that team name choice.”  
"Okay."  
  
There was a bit of a pause. “Follow me.”  
  
Hounds dragged Alex by the foot to his Rescue Team base as he explains, “So before we become a rescue team, we need various Rescue Team stuff, like a Treasure Bag, a Map, and a Badge. We have to register ourselves to get the said items.” Alex appears to be listening this time around.  
Hounds continued, “Raichu is the Pokemon who registers some random losers who want to be helpful in some sort into official Rescue Teams. How sweet is that? You’re actually useful now. But here’s the thing though…” Hounds stopped in his tracks again. “…Raichu is leading her own rescue team. I happen to be a part of said rescue team, but honestly, I hate working under Raichu. It’s so boring, none of the jobs are worth it, and Raichu can get pretty annoying most of the time, at least for me. But I’m not sure if she’d approve of me quitting her team and then going up to her face and saying ‘Hey, I’m going to be part of a rescue team with this Psyduck over here.’ And as much as I enjoy the thought of going against my leader and declaring independency…” Hounds stopped for a bit. “…I hate to admit it, but, she’s actually pretty scary. If you mess with her, you would die or something.” His eyes stared down with the expression of… worry?  
Alex asked, “So, what's your plan?”  
“Fortunately, I think I know something.”  
  
\----- ----- -----  
  
“Sub-teams!” Hounds tried his best to convince an old-looking Raichu.  
“Explain,” the Raichu said.  
It may look like Hounds is so confident, he planned out everything, but you’ve got to know that he’s actually trying to think about what to say next while fighting an anxiety that maybe things will get screwed up.  
  
“So, you know the meaning of the prefix ‘sub’, right?” At this point he’s pointing out obvious things. “Sub-team, basically a kind of team that works like an… independent rescue team, but is still part of a bigger team.”  
“Hmm, interesting,” Leader Raichu gave her own thoughts. “Tell me more about how it works.”  
  
Hounds dove further into the topic. “The ‘sub-team’ leads themselves most of the time, walking into Mystery Dungeons in their own name, but if necessary, they can still be assigned missions under the host team’s name, basically help their team members when needed.” To be honest, in the back of his mind, he still gets sick thinking about helping his total failure teammates. “The rewards they get from jobs also get shared between the host team.” He was tempted to bring up a comparison to Treasure Town’s Wigglytuff Guild. If he was given a choice between the Guild and his current team, he would 100% choose the Guild, as cruel as that guild may sound. It’s probably a lot better than having to work under, ugh, Raichu.  
  
“I like this idea! How did I not realize this existed before?” Raichu exclaimed in surprise.  
“Glad to teach you about this… certainly… existing feature.” Hounds sounded pleased. He whispered to Alex, “My goodness, I can’t believe that lie actually worked?”  
The team was about to leave the room when Raichu called, “Wait! Where are you going?”  
Crap. Hounds ran back to Raichu again, dragging Alex behind him, again.  
“I still wasn’t able to register you yet!” Raichu clarified. “Tell me dearies, what’s your ‘sub-team’ name?”  
  
“Uhh…” Hounds thought hard. He’s going to have to think of his own team’s name if he wanted that stupid Raichu to think of the ‘sub-team’ concept seriously, but ah, screw it. He didn’t have any better ideas, he’ll have to go with the name provided by the Psyduck. He announced with a big grin, “Me and this Psyduck called Alex here, we’re Team Team!”  
Silence.  
  
“Alright, ‘sub-team’…” Not going to lie here, Raichu actually didn’t show any signs of being about to burst. “Team Team.”  
“…Yes.” Hounds confirmed.  
“I’ll, by personal preference, call you Double Team, but yes, you are officially registered as a ‘Sub-Rescue Team’!” Hounds had a sigh of relief.  
  
Raichu handed over the Team’s new gear (and basically ignoring Hounds’ old gear). “Here’s your scarves,” Raichu gleefully said as she handed over some unusually large scarves. “Apologies if the scarves are a teeny bit big, we ran out of normal-sized scarves. It may weigh a bit, but I think if you fold them in a certain way…” Raichu’s smile grew as she found Alex and wearing the scarves--they fit far better than she had expected, it’s as if they were wearing normal-sized scarves. “Yes! That’s it! Alright, see you soon, have a great work tomorrow!”  
  
Time for Double Team to leave the room.  
  
  
The entirety of Team Raichu was called to the dinner table. Hounds was already munching on some poor team members’ plate.  
“Hounds?!” A familiar Spearow exclaimed.  
“You’re too slow, kid.” Hounds haughtily bragged. “How about train yourself to become even faster so I won’t take your dinner for another three days?”  
“Aw, man…” Poor Spearow retreated to his room, his face with the expression of being discouraged. He can get robbed for so many times.  
  
Hounds just waved at him with an arrogant smile. Alex, absentmindedly, waved at, he honestly doesn’t know what he’s waving at.  
“Hey, Alex,” Hounds caught Alex’s attention. “Are you going to eat that?”  
“Uhh…” By the time Alex started thinking, Hounds already finished his plate for him.  
  
When it was time for everyone to go back to their rooms, pretty much everyone who didn’t get their dinner stolen by Hounds went cheerfully with satisfied bellies.  
  
“So uh, this is…” Hounds had to show Alex around probably the messiest room you’ve seen. “…not my room. Yeah, definitely not, I’d never have a room like this.” Alex may be the kind that doesn’t really look at anything, but when he does look at something, he looks straight through it, in the most part. Now, he’s just staring at a Houndour who clearly gave up cleaning his personal space.  
  
“So uh, here’s my bed…” Hounds pointed at his bed which, in comparison to everyone else’s neat clusters of straw and other stuff, looks more like a messed up haystack. “…This is my window…” He pointed at a cracked window with what looks like Cheri Berry juice marking a bunch of “X” marks over it. “…and you don’t need to know what that is.” He pointed towards a colorful and ugly mess of goop which covers 70% of the whole room. “So, what do you think?”  
“Oh wait, where did my dinner go?” Alex registered a bit too late.  
“Good.” Hounds replied. “Now, because we’re a rescue team now, we’re going to be sleeping here.”

Hounds just stared for a long while.  
“Actually, y’know what?” Hounds finally spoke. “Bugger off.”  
  
He kicked Alex out of his room, and locked the door behind him.  
  
Alex, clearly not knowing what he should do next, let alone understand what just happened, just drifted off, just like that, in-front of Hounds’ door.  
  
\----- ----- -----  
  
“Hey, are you there?” A voice called.  
“Uhh… what?” Alex responded.  
The same voice from that weird quiz reached out to him again. “Where are you now?”  
Alex started thinking seriously, and in real time. “I’m already here, where you wanted to send me.”  
  
“Good to know.” The voice replied. “I understand that you’re not the greatest at understanding things, so I’m going to remind you of why you’re here.”  
“To save the world?” Alex answered, but at the same time, he sounded like he was only guessing.  
“To save the world, yes.” The voice answered. “I’m surprised you still remember that.”  
“I had to.” Alex replied. “It’s the one reason why I’m here. It’s the only way I’ll actually ever be useful. It’s the one thing I have to do, one thing that I can’t screw up. And if I screw up…”  
“Oh?” The voice sounded disturbed. “There is no reason for you to be discouraged. Wipe away your tears, and get up.”  
  
Alex did exactly as he was instructed.  
“Alex, let me tell you something.” The voice continued. “It may be true that you seem to fail in everything you tried to do, it may be true that you ended up being left alone, but you were never a failure.”  
“But… why do you think so..?” Alex sobbed a bit.  
“Every being has something special about them,” the voice answered. “Even if they don’t think it.”  
Alex nodded, but he was struggling to control his tears.  
“I sent you here to—“ The voice was getting less clearer by the moment. “....e a ..p…e.....on….ha…”  
“Quiz lady voice thing..?!” Alex reached out.  
“…sav… .h. ..rl. .i.. .. …ie. t… … …n.!”  
“We’re not done yet!” Alex screamed. “Come back!”  
  
“Come back—“  
  
Alex felt a heavy blow, and the next thing he knew, he was back in the Raichu Rescue Team base, with a slightly irritated Houndour staring at him.  
  
“What were you doing in front of my door?” Hounds ordered.  
“Uhh… I… uhh…”  
“Oh well, it doesn’t matter, does it? Good morning, by the way.” Hounds greeted. “We’re going to do some more rescuing losers, and getting paid by those losers in Poke, berries, items, and… man, I forgot.”  
“Aurum?” Alex honestly didn’t really know what he said. He just wanted to help.  
“So get up you dense dullard.” Hounds hit Alex with the door a second time, and then dragged him down the stairs. At this point Alex was tired of being dragged by his foot.  
  


\----- ----- -----

As Double Team went for the Bulletin Board, Hounds showed Alex around Resilire Town, and gave pretty bad summaries of the town Pokemon.

“So I got to know pretty much everyone, that's really cool and all.” Alex said after Hounds was finished with his explanations. The he started wearing a smug look. “But who wouldn't want to know something about Alex?”  
"Everyone.” Hounds answered. “Actually, yeah maybe me.”  
“So yeah, you know my name is Alex, right?”  
“Oh yeah… Alex…” Hounds tried to contain himself.  
"Here's another thing you may want to know about me." Alex leaned in closer to Hounds' ear. “I'm actually..."


	2. Act 1: One Hell of an Entrance / Day 2: Welcome to Hell!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex already had a hell of an entrance to the Pokémon world, and he's about to go through another hell of an entrance, this time to hell. Who knew?

"W-What?" Hounds sounded really confused.  
"Oh, um, excuse me." Alex coughed.  
"...Oh, yeah right. I'm actually a human sent here to save this world.” That stopped Double Team in its tracks.

“Heh, don’t give me that lie.” The tone of Hounds’ voice sounded even more cruel than usual. “I don’t give a damn about humans, I don’t really believe they even exist either.”  
"Fair enough." Alex turned back to his front, and Team Team's stroll towards the Job Board continued. "I don't believe in them either."

“Also, what did you say again? Save the world?”  
“Uhh… actually, I-“  
“You consider yourself to be some kind of savior, huh? Some kind of great hero?”  
“…Hey. I wasn't saying-“  
“Forget it. There isn’t really any need to save the world or anything, I don’t think you even have the guts to anyway. First, what do you think? Some kind of large meteor will fall out of the blue to destroy the world again? Second, this is Resilire Town, the town of resilience!”  
“…What now?”  
“Tornado hit us? No worries, let’s build ourselves up again. The town burnt down? Oh well, let’s not give up hope, we’ll still live! Giratina wiped out almost everything, lay waste to our leaders, and ravaged our homes? Nobody cares, let’s go go go! And that’s why I love this town so much.”  
“…but Hounds…”  
“What?”  
“…I wasn’t the one who sent me here.” Alex said. "Chill out for a sec."  
“Then I don’t really know what’s with you.”

Hounds walked significantly faster than Alex, so by the time he finished his sentence, he was already a good distance away from him.  
“Too slow!” Hounds bragged.

Alex didn’t really care anyway, and continued walking as normal, when absentmindedly, Alex’s eyes were caught by a Fennekin resting under a canopy. The Fennekin was staring suspiciously at the weird Psyduck staring at her, too. It was starting to get uncomfortable for both sides. Alex was the first to turn his head away. He caught up to Hounds.  
“Ah, Kenna’s a charming Pokemon isn’t she?” Hounds said.  
“Who’s Kenna?”  
“I’m not about to explain another thing to you again, am I?”

In retrospect, while Alex was staring at that Fennekin, she looked as if she was… scared? Maybe add a hint of anger and hatred, but… Alex could see in the corner of his eyes that she was relieved. Maybe those emotions of phobia were for someone else? She also looks a little messy. Her fur is all messed up, her scarf really doesn’t look like it’s in a good condition, she also looked a little tired and anxious, but why?

But Alex couldn’t think about this any longer, he’s already reached the Bulletin Board.

“Hey,” Hounds caught Alex’s attention. “What are you staring at? Daydreaming? Me too. Daydreaming about the one day I can finally dispose of you.”  
“Well… I-“  
“Go ahead and pick a job, boss.”

Alex took another step towards the Bulletin Board when Hounds stopped him.  
“Do you know about job tiers?” Hounds asked. “To summarize, it’s basically ABCDEF stuff, like F is the easiest, but least paying, and A is, well, A-tier jobs, like something important.” He explained before Alex was able to answer to the previous question.  
“S-tiers, which by the way isn’t above A in the alphabet but who cares, are basically jobs that only Gold Ranks take. They’re extremely difficult, high-paying, and something important like, say, saving the world or something.” Hounds explained even more. “And, I’m praying that you won’t choose an S-tier job.”  
“What’s a Gold Rank?”  
“Enough questions, kid.”

“But… you’re the kid.” Alex teased as he remembers his past life as a college student back in the human world, and Hounds behaved more like an angry 15 year old or something, he doesn’t really understand if age works the same way in the Pokemon world.  
“You-“ Hounds darted back at him, but he wasn’t able to continue what he was about to say before he was handed a job letter.

“What do you think about this one?” Alex asked. Hounds snatched the letter off his hands.  
“Of course you were going to…” Hounds sounded disappointed as he inspected the most difficult job in the Board. “…We’re not taking this one, idiot. Put it back where you took it. Maybe just start off with a C-tier job or something-“  
“Hey, looks like our buddy Hounds wants himself a big one!” Team Team heard a voice behind them say. “Though, what surprises me more is that he’s actually going to do something!”  
“Oh no,” Hounds’ heart sunk. “Not them again.”

Soon enough, the Houndour was picked up by the claws of Braviary, the leader of Gold Rank Team Roger, which was the best Rescue Team in the area.  
“Say Hounds,” Braviary asked. “Can you tell me a bit more about your job?”  
Hounds struggled to tug on to his letter, but Braviary had little to no problem snatching it from his paws.  
He dropped Hounds, and returned to his team with the letter in his hands. His team passed the letter among themselves.

“Woah, this sure pays magnificently. Beautifully.” Dragonair, the action-taker of the team, sounded surprised.  
“Well, S-tier jobs nowadays sound pretty desperate,” the brains of the team, who was called Meowstic added, “But this... This sounds like a Lairon who's been stuck in a trap for three weeks. A loud one too.”  
“Definitely.” Dragonair acknowledged. “I’ll admit, half of me doesn’t feel prepared enough, but who am I to worry?”  
Braviary replied, “That’s why you actually have to be a good rescuer.”

Team Roger had a few chuckles, but Hounds felt the dread building up in his stomach as he heard the unfriendly and hard-sounding noises from the team. It felt worse when Braviary attempted to face the Sub-Team Team, but bailed out, causing Team Roger to laugh a bit more. Finally, he was able to contain himself, barely able to contain his grin, when he went to face Alex.

“So, uh…” Braviary sounded like he was desperately trying not to gag. “…What’s your business, with your, uh, friend… over there?” Alex held a blank expression. Not the blank expression of not paying attention, but the blank expression of being exhausted by this big boy bird trying to act all flashy on them.  
“I don’t know him.” Alex told the truth, he actually didn’t know Hounds.  
“Ah, I see…” Braviary replied. “...New team, huh?”  
“Suddenly…”  
“So you know anything about what Rescue Teams do? You should know a lot by now, you sure look like you do.” That’s true. Alex is pretty old, noticeably older than Braviary, but he hasn’t grown up in this world, he just came here yesterday. That said, Braviary was struggling to behave properly, but he ended up holding his wing on top of his head, and moving it above Alex’s. His team behind him burst out, but honestly, Braviary was embarrassed, because he was usually respectful to the elderly.

“Anyways, uh…” Braviary regained his confidence as he gave back the letter. “…talk to ya later.” With his handgun gesture, he winked at Double Team, and went back to his own team. As they walked away, Braviary quickly turned back at them. “Also, good luck!” Honestly, Dragonair and Meowstic couldn’t hold it all in anymore.

After they were out of their sights, Alex turned his head at Hounds.  
Hounds’ head was tilted a little downwards, but after a long pause, he said, “Wow Alex, Team Roger really sucks, right?”  
“Yeah he's boring." Alex answered, “But hey, at least he looks like someone who actually does something with his life, and I don't think he even looks that way.”  
“But that’s just personal opinion!” Hounds rolled his eyes.

Alex honestly didn’t care about Team Roger. He could easily spend months tolerating their nuisance, especially when he’s been though way worse, back when he was a college student who was always being tormented by everyone. Hands coming out of toilets, that one kid who always spills their sauce on his jacket, ah good times.

“Anyways, we should definitely show those jerks who’s boss!” Hounds challenged. “Let’s show them.”  
“And I thought you were-“  
“I DON’T CARE.” Hounds interrupted. “Let’s go, go go!”

Alex was being dragged again all the way back through the same path they took to the Bulletin Board, which caused the townsmon to watch them as they went. He looked around to see Kennedi again, but she seems to have disappeared. Later, he was being dragged back into the wild places, being dragged into… wait, what did the letter say again? Oh, right. Mt.- Lavarsi? Alex remembered overhearing some of Raichu’s team members talk about how treacherous Mt. Lavarsi is, how it was the hardest dungeon in the area, and how you would be doomed if you got lost in it.\  
Wow, very scary, I'm shaking and crying right now, Alex thought.  
  
Oh well, he’s screwed.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Double Team arrived to the foot of the volcano. Compared to the amazing and fearsome height of the great and terrible Lavarsi, the two fools looked like nothing but a pair of bugs about to be crushed.

“So… uh…” Hounds whimpered. “We’re going to make this rescue, right?”  
Alex wasn’t going to say yes or no. He honestly didn’t really care, but he decided to think for a bit.  
“Say, I was the one who picked the letter, and you accepted it, right?”  
“But…” Hounds made the mistake of looking back at the majestic Mt. Lavarsi. Alex followed.  
“If I were to be honest…” Alex said. “…this doesn’t look that bad.”  
“DOESN’T LOOK THAT BAD?” Hounds whined as he stared into Scary Looking Mountain #1.  
“This is a fire dungeon. You’re a fire type. I’m lucky to be a water type.” Alex explained his thoughts unnaturally calmly. "We're beating up ass here."  
“ARE YOU INSANE? ARE YOU F—“  
Alex pushed the resistant Houndour into the entrance of the dungeon. Oh, how the tables turned.

Two floors into the dungeon, and Hounds was barely avoiding a mental breakdown. Alex still kept that same “Alex” look, somehow. The ordinary Bronze rank would break down into tears if they even survived the first room of Mt. Lavarsi. Is Alex confident because he’s a Water type? No, that can’t be it, Alex isn’t feeling confident; in fact he doesn’t actually feel anything, no fear, no bravery, no idea of what’s going on. Also, is the dungeon really as bad as people say it is? Maybe Mt. Lavarsi got nerfed in some way? Honestly, he doesn’t really know either.

“So, where’s our friend? Maybe 6 more floors to go?” Alex asked.  
“I WANT TO GO HOME!!” Hounds burst out.  
“Oh well, let’s get moving.”  
Alex continued to drag Hounds around.  
“Argh, How heavy are you anyway?” Alex struggled.

Three floors later, Double Team made into a point of the volcano that looked drastically different from the hellhole they were venturing into earlier. Compared to the sharp stalactites and stalagmites that look like they’re about to impale you any second, and lakes of lava violently flowing with waves and splashes through a scorched land filled with ugly creatures, imperishable bonfires, and black smoke, this point looks somehow… tranquil.  
The walls look dark, like the volcano finally earned the perpetual rest that it needed. The mini landforms were a beautiful mess, and breathtaking views of the world came through gaps in the walls. A faint light of lava lit up the corridors in a heartwarming mood. Alex, not going to lie, had to control some of his tears. He would honestly want to live here if this place wasn’t also Hell brought to Earth.  
This is ironically the perfect place to escape from your problems and relax, far better than smoking cigars or anything, actually.  
Unfortunately, Hounds was still screaming as if he was still in Mt. Lavasire, which is actually true, but not the same Mt. Lavasire as this one. Alex was really hoping to find a room full of Poke and items to finally shut his annoying mouth so he could grab himself the full tranquil experience, but alas, Alex will have to let this Houndour be.

Anyways, to focus on the task at hand, 3 floors and a couple rooms more and the Pokemon in need of rescue will be saved. This was somehow as easy as Haunted Hollow so far. But Alex knew that he shouldn’t ever keep his hopes up, anything can happen. Now, time for Alex to drag a screaming Houndour to the stairs.

The peaceful volcano insides that Alex knew were slowly, but surely starting to look more like the volcano 7 floors beneath them. The light was getting even brighter.

Soon, Alex went to check from behind the wall of a corridor, inspecting if there would be anything in the next room.  
And he was right. The stairs were there. In the room to the right of them.  
  
He went to rest for a little, sitting on the floor for a bit, leaning on the wall to catch his breath.  
"No, we're taking a break here." Alex lifted his finger up. Hounds just fell down.  
  
...It's been a bit, but somehow Hounds was able to calm down before they had to go up the final stairs.  
“...Hey, kid.” Alex said.  
"Yes?"  
“You ready?”  
“I’m honestly not so sure.” Hounds answered.  
“Heh.” Alex replied. "Me neither."  
Honestly, Alex was tempted to kiss the floor before he had to return to Hell’s “free trial edition”, but that would mean getting his mouth, or his beak rather, dirty from a bunch of nutritious infernal ash. It was now or never, or maybe he could actually do it later, but he wanted to avoid procrastinating, so step by step, they climbed up the stairs.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight floors into the dungeon. Reached the destination floor.  
The floor was a return to the infernal world of the first five floors of Mt. Lavarsi, but Double Team was no longer intimidated by the raging fires anymore. But… something wasn’t right.

“But I thought…” Hounds spoke.  
“Thought what?” Alex asked.  
“Mt. Lavarsi was twenty floors?” Hounds continued as he stared into what seems to be a relatively flat floor. No strange landform to challenge the explorers, no rooms of Poke and items, not even a single Pokemon "that gave up on life for whatever reason" to see (ignoring Hounds for a second)...  
However, looking far beyond, looking probably as far as Alex’s slightly bad eyesight and horrible attention span can carry him, he could see…

“...Lyra?” Hounds sounded surprised. No one really stopped to check on the job letter, so this was unexpected for them.  
“Oh, great. It’s Hounds.” A starving Lairon responded in a very disappointed tone.  
Alex asked, “Who’s she?”  
Hounds answered with “Oh, she’s just another one of those… Ok, I’ll admit she’s one of the only cool pokémon I know. A lot of personal reasons, but I want to work with her above all things. It’s because I want to be able to see…”  
“See..?”  
“Nah, I just want to work with her, she’s way cooler than those Team Roger losers.”  
“Aww… useless flattering, how cute,” Lyra sarcastically replied.

“Anyways, I thought I heard that you were out in vacation, exploring?”  
“Yeah, and I got stuck here. I just wanted to find the chillout area to make a grand finish for it.”  
“Oh, that chillout area? We’ve been there just a few minutes ago!” Alex replied.  
Lyra flinched. “Great, now you’re making me feel bad and confused at the same time.” She continued, sounding offended. “First, a few minutes ago? Like what, the floor you were in before this one had the chillout zone?”  
“Exactly.” Hounds answered while interrupting Alex, who, despite having late and slow reactions, was going to say the same thing anyway.  
“Don’t lie to me, I swear the chillout zones are in the 12th to 18th floors.”  
“We all know Mystery Dungeons, Lyra. They’re all random and stuff.”  
She snarled in disbelief and dismay.  
“How do Mystery Dungeons work, Hounds?” Alex, contrary to what Hounds just said, still didn’t understand Mystery Dungeons completely.  
“Shut up.” Hounds heckled.

“Anyways, are you going to rescue me or what, get to the point.” Lyra said. “I’ve been stuck here for like, I don’t know how many days.”  
“I’ve been told that you would end your vacation a week earlier?”  
“OH FOR F--” Lyra tripped on herself. “Ahem, I’ve been missing out on too much, I can’t be THIS late for anything. Rescue me now, or I’ll find a way to get out of here myself, search for you, and then rip your flesh into little shreds.”  
“Simple enough, don’t you worry.” Hounds reassured her. “Me and Alex here make an amazing, outstanding, and extraordinary team.”  
Lyra could only react with an “Ugh.”

“We’re the legendary team that needs no introduction, but I’m about to introduce ourselves anyway. We’re Team Team, and we’re--”  
“Hold on.” Lyra interrupted. “Is… that actually… what you named your band of dorks?”  
Alex replied, “...It was actually my-”  
“QUIET!” Hounds heckled again.  
Lyra continued to complain. “Oh, for Arceus’ sake- wait, what do you think you’re doing?”  
Hounds was about to take a step forward. “Trying to rescue you?”  
“Hold up just for a minute, do you understand why I haven’t attempted to escape by myself?”  
“Right…” Hounds remembered. “You’re a fairly strong Pokemon, aren’t you? Then why?”  
“I don’t want to set off any sneaky shenanigans this hellhole of a Mystery Dungeon has.” Lyra explained.  
“Hellhole, finally! Finally, someone gets it.” Hounds exclaimed while glaring at Alex.  
“I think this room is a Monster House.”  
“A what now?” Alex asked.  
Both Hounds and Lyra stared at Alex, then at themselves.  
“Does he actually know anything?” Lyra asked.  
“I’m asking the same question myself.” Hounds answered.  
Lyra turned to face Alex. “Monster Houses are basically a gang of bad Pokemon, waiting to fall down from the sky just like that. Usually, the rooms have a great ton of prizes, but for some reason, this floor didn’t even have anything when I first entered. It’s rather suspicious, but anyways, yeah I think-- what in the actual shit did you just do?”  
Everyone stopped. Alex glanced at the distraught expression of Lyra’s face, then at Hounds, who was just glaring at him in almost the same manner. Finally, he checked his steps. “Oh sorry, I just started walking for no reason. Hopefully it doesn’t matter too much.”  
Lyra punched herself in the face as all hell broke loose, room shaking, and Pokemon falling from the sky.

“DOESN’T MATTER TOO MUCH?” Lyra yelled in disgust.  
“...Sorry.” Alex could only whimper in a faint voice.  
He, Hounds, and Lyra fended off some of the bad Pokemon as much as they could.  
“We need a plan!” Hounds called.  
“I don’t have any.” Alex answered.  
“Lucky for all of us, I’ve got one!”  
“Good teamwork, guys.” Lyra replied as she barely avoided a Magcargo’s Fire Blast.

“So, what’s the plan?” Alex got Brick Break-ed in the face by a Rhydon. It was a somewhat familiar feeling.  
“So a rescue team badge can save a pokemon, right?”  
“Yeah…”  
“Even while you’re fighting a whole Monster House, right?”  
“Yep.”  
“I’ll try to reach Lyra, but I need a distraction, alright?”  
“Uhh…”  
Before Alex could fully answer, Hounds abandoned him to fend off the whole Monster House by himself.  
“GREAT teamwork, guys.” Lyra responded as she saw him run away.

“Oh, great.” Alex thought. College was all going back to him. The moment he thinks he’s safe in a tranquil place, the next thing he knew he was being ganged up on by basically everyone. Unfortunately, but expectedly, his newfound “luck” as a Water type Pokémon couldn’t save him from this situation either.

Hounds ran as fast as he could to reach Lyra, for his “plan” to work. When he was THIS close to her, he got Focus Blasted by a nearby Sandslash. Make it double. However, Lyra was able to pick up the Double Team badge that Hounds accidentally dropped on his way. Lyra inspected the badge as she shone it on herself. For hopefully the last time this day, all she could feel was a certain feeling called “disappointment”. A magical power finally carried Lyra out of that terrible place known as Mt. Lavasire.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey… I remember this…  
“...Lady voice thing?” Alex called. “You there?”  
“Yes.” The voice spoke in a manner that made him imagine her lounging in a beach chair. He doesn’t know why.  
Alex just stood there, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t bring himself to say it.  
“Is it about Lyra?” The voice guessed. “Don’t worry about her. She’s been rescued.”  
Alex continued to just stand there.  
“Like I said, Alex, you aren’t a failure.” She continued. “On the contrary, you’ve done… very well.”

“Yeah, thanks, lady voice thing…” Alex finally spoke. “...but I was actually thinking of someone else.”  
“And who may that be?” The voice sounded intrigued.  
“I think I remember… maybe… was her name…”  
“Kenna?” The voice asked. “The Fennekin you just saw earlier in the day?”  
“Yeah…” Alex confirmed. “I know, this is a strange time to finally think about her, but--”  
“It’s alright, Alex.” She reassured him. “You can talk to me about anything, I’ll try to help in any way I can.”  
“Gee, thanks so much lady.” He continued. “Anyways, about Kennedi… I wonder what’s with her.”  
The voice didn’t say anything.  
“I wonder if I did something wrong, or, I need to know more about her. I feel as if she’s… scared?”  
The voice finally spoke. “This is why I chose you, Alex.”  
“Huh?”  
“Despite being backstabbed, scarred emotionally, and hurt to the universe and back…” The voice continued. “You still continue to care for others. You still love like you’ve never been hurt. You just didn't really get the chance back there.”  
“And what about Kenna?”  
“I understand that you’re caring so much for Kenna all of a sudden…” She replied. “...it’s because you also had a Fennekin in your life, correct?”  
“...I like to pretend she’s being cared by my family in place of me.” Alex answered. “What I don’t know won’t hurt me.”  
“I know, I know. But I’ll tell you anyway. She is being cared by your family, you can let go of your doubts now. But I’d like you to never stop caring for others, alright?”  
“Yep, alright, got it.”  
“And maybe treat Kenna as you did Fennekin, alright? She can help you if you help her.”  
“I’m not so sure-”  
“Wake up, you dorks.”

Alex woke up in a familiar place, finding the face of a familiar Lairon that looked somehow less disgusted than ever seen before. Alex turned to his side to find a Houndour with the same look as when they encountered Team Roger.

“So you fainted in your mission, which means you’ve failed your jobs, right?”  
“Urk-” Hounds reacted.  
“But, technically…” Lyra continued. “...you succeeded in your rescue, right?”  
“Uhh… no?” Hounds answered.  
“Well, I’m not about to thank you for making fools of yourselves back at Monstrosity House…” Lyra replied. “...but man, you’ve actually grown pretty decently, Hounds. You survived seven floors in the damned. Keep it up.” She sounded proud.  
“Lyra…” Hounds could only say.  
“Anyways, I have to go back to my place early, I have a week’s worth of work to compensate.” Lyra said as she threw a fire-shaped necklace at Hounds. “Don’t follow me, or I’ll throw you both back in Mt. Giratina or something.” She immediately started walking farther down the road.  
“Wait!” Hounds called.  
Lyra turned back. “Don’t waste my time, what do you want, Poke? The rewards I said I would give in the letter?”  
“I don’t care.” Hounds paused. ”I won’t waste this chance.”  
“What chance?”  
After a longer amount of time thinking, Hounds finally brought himself to ask, “When can I see Q-”  
“Hey.” Lyra heckled. Then her expression suddenly turned into an abnormally kinder smile. “Don’t you worry about that.” She winked at them, then continued slowly walking towards the horizon, Hounds unable to object.

Silence. Alex used this long time to think and summarize the whole day. Wow, a lot has happened, didn’t it?  
Hounds finally spoke. “Let’s just grab ourselves some dinner.”  
At the end of that sentence, they both noticed their growling stomachs, then stared at each other.  
“First to arrive gets the other’s plate as well!” Hounds challenged.  
They both raced towards Team Raichu’s Base. Alex surprisingly ran faster than Hounds.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ok, I’ll accept this.” Hounds was laughing as he gave away his plate to Alex.  
“That was… fun?” Alex replied. Once again, he wasn’t able to comprehend this situation clearly, the first thing that came to his mind was just to start running, and he just decided to do it.  
The rest of the Team Raichu members on the table honestly couldn’t believe their eyes. They whispered to each other about how it was basically a robber getting robbed.  
Speaking of robbers… Alex turned to check on the spot in the table where Hounds grabbed the Spearow’s dinner last night. It was empty.

“Oh? Is someone late again?” Hounds arrogantly said.  
“That reminds me…” Porygon2, one of the higher members of Team Raichu, said. “...Spearow has been absent today.”  
“Say, what? P2?” Hounds asked.  
“...Spearow is nowhere to be found. His room is empty, and the whole town has no idea where he went.”  
“Poor Spearow,” Hounds replied. “Too much of a coward. Bless him.”  
“I believe it also has to do with a vast majority of reasons other than you stealing his dinner for a three--” P2 responded. “--make it a four, day streak.”  
“Eh, just leave him be.” Hounds said as he munched on Spearow’s plate.  
“I have a tip for you.” P2 started to push himself uncomfortably close to Hounds.  
“Let me hear it.”

Porygon2’s tone changed as he glared straight into Hounds’ eyes. “You may never know what effects your decisions make, **so I highly recommend you to watch yourself**.”

After an eternity, Porygon2 was back in his seat, as if nothing ever happened.

Hounds was only staring at Spearow’s empty plate uncomfortably. All Alex could do was to stare at Hounds, eating at a slow rate. “Uhh…”

“I’m fine Alex, don’t worry.” Hounds appeared to be back to normal.  
"Who said I was worrying?" Alex replied.  
"..."  
Dinner time was over.

Everyone returned to their rooms cheerfully and with satisfied bellies, because the only member who could get his dinner stolen by Hounds was not present.

Alex followed Hounds to his room, and in the exact moment that Hounds would lock his door in front of Alex to keep him out again, Porygon2 once again showed up.  
“Apologies for the interruption.” He apologized. “I have very recently been instructed to escort you both into the Master Room." Crap. Just, crap. Raichu has heard about the rescue mission in Mt. Lavarsi. She’s heard about how they’ve recklessly went, and gloriously failed.  
There was no way they could refuse to enter her room. Unless they jumped off the window, the only way to exit was through the door, at least for Hounds. And even if they did jump through the window, Porygon2, the most excellent seeker in the area, will tirelessly and effortlessly find them and use force to bring them into the Master Room. There was also no way they could agree to enter Raichu’s room. It would be game over. But alas, Hounds no longer had any choices left. Oh well, it was time to take a deep breath, and accept the end.

“Alright Alex, let’s go.” Hounds resigned.  
Team Team walked through the corridor to Team Leader Raichu’s room, with P2 following behind them.  
Finally, after felt like hours, but barely lasted ten seconds, they brought themselves to Raichu’s presence.

Raichu appeared to stare straight through them, petrifying Hounds and Alex, unable to move, but P2 pushed them to go impossibly closer. Soon, all Double Team could see was Raichu’s face in front of them, staring blankly at them.

“Leader Raichu. Is this the…” P2 sounded confused. “...‘sub-team’... That you called for?”  
Raichu’s response was nothing. No one could even hear breathing, somehow. She was frozen like a statue.  
“Leader Raichu?” He continued to ask.  
“...”

“I’m terribly sorry…” P2 said to Double Team. “...The last time I saw her, which was a few minutes ago, she was busy with papers and all that. She was actually moving.”  
Hounds was starting to get very uncomfortable. Was he being challenged to a staring contest? Let Alex do it, he’s been staring like that probably longer than Raichu did, because he couldn’t care less about anything. He was already in the Master Room, and his mind is still in the dinner table. Look at his hands, he’s still holding Hounds’ extra plate to this hour.

“I’ve got to take a piss.” Hounds lied. “P2, do you mind?”  
“But…” P2 was starting to look like he was having a panic attack.  
“Alex, let’s go.” Alex was being dragged by foot again.

But when Double Team was about to reach the door…  
“Wait! Where are you going?” Raichu called in a similar way as yesterday.  
Double Team turned around quickly and rushed back to the front of her desk.  
“Job didn’t go as planned?” Raichu asked in a cheerful manner.  
“In many ways, yes.” Alex stood up.  
“Sorry that you weren’t able to rescue your client properly, though you did end up technically rescuing them.” Raichu replied. “So I’m going to give you a few gifts!”  
Hounds snatched a Reviver Seed and Max Elixir from her paw.  
“However, I’m surprised that you were able to make it this far into Mt. Lavasire…” Raichu continued. “...I remember when I was a Pikachu. That terrible volcano gave me a very bad and large burn. I had to rest in a hospital for many weeks.” She giggled to herself.  
Hounds wasn’t ready for Raichu to ramble on and on again, but thankfully that was all that she talked about.  
“I see potential in your ‘sub-team’.” She said. “You’ve been putting more effort than every seen before, keep it up for me, ok?”  
“Alright, Leader Raichu.” Hounds responded.  
“P2?”  
“Yes?” Porgyon2 asked.  
“Thank you for everything, you may leave now.”  
“Pleasure.” P2 responded.

After P2 shut the door behind him, Raichu walked towards her own bulletin board, scanning through a lot of notes. “Aha!” Raichu exclaimed as she pulled out a note that was covered under layers of newer notes. It has a lot of wear and tear.  
“I have an assignment for you.”  
“Count me in.” Hounds said.  
Raichu put down her note on the table for Double Team to view.  
“I’ve always wanted to explore Lovely Garden. But unfortunately…” Raichu was pressing her two paws together. “I don’t know where it is, or what it looks like. I’ve heard stories about it from my father, but he never said anything about its location, or appearance. In fact, my father, my father’s father, and for some reason, my crazy friend from high-school, all set out to look for Lovely Garden, but they never found it.”  
“Alright?” Hounds replied. “But how do we find a place that no one is able to find?”  
“I don’t know.” Raichu reluctantly answered. “But that’s why I’m entrusting you both with a personal task. I know I can count on both of you, it means the world to me.”  
“What?” Alex suddenly exclaimed.  
Everyone was silent.

“What’s the matter, Alex?” Raichu asked politely.  
“Wait, what did you say again?”  
“I’m entrusting you with a personal task?”  
“No, ma’am. After that?”  
“I know I can count on both of you?”  
“Sorry, maybe a little bit more forward?”  
“It means the world to me?”  
Alex quickly put his hand on the letter, and faced up to Raichu with a determined face. “I’m in.”  
Hounds was confused, but he decided to follow suit.  
“I’m also in.”  
Hounds turned to whisper to Alex. “Do you actually think that this ‘world’ you’re supposed to save is this?”  
“I don’t know…” Alex answered.  
“Now, good luck to you, Double Team. I believe you can do it. But you need some rest first.” Raichu said.  
“Alright, boss.” Hounds responded. “Alex, let’s go!”  
All of Double Team went through the door. Or at least Hounds thought. Alex made a quick turnaround while Hounds was too busy running to notice. He returned to the table.

“Is there anything wrong, Alex?”  
Alex wanted to say something, but he forgot. Raichu noticed his hands.  
“Oh, are you still hungry?” Raichu giggled. “Here you go!”  
She poured a decent amount of dinner into Alex’s plate.  
“I’ll let you in on one more thing…” Raichu leaned closer to Alex. Then she whispered, “I’m not the biggest fan of P2’s cooking, honestly.”  
Not actually what Alex going to ask for, but he decided that it was much better than he wanted.  
“Alright, good night to you!” Raichu greeted him joyfully.

Alex left the room, to find the rest of the building covered in darkness. It was actually very late. But he didn’t care. He decided to sneak out of the base.

“It should be here, somewhere…” Alex whispered as he creeped around Resilire Town. He was… thinking? Thinking seriously? He was trying to remember the places that he’s been in. Is it there? No, that’s the Kecleon Shop. That’s the Kangaskhan Storage. Wait-- there it is!

Alex ran almost silently to the canopy where he found a Fennekin. He wasn’t sure if Kenna usually went to this spot, but he decided it was better than having to spend the whole night searching around more for Kenna.  
He gently placed the plate full of dinner on the floor, silently praying that no one else would touch it other than Kenna or something. He wasn’t sure if this was the correct way to give a poor Pokemon some food in the Pokemon world. It was perfectly fine in the human world, but in a world where Pokemon are dominant, is it proper?  
Anyways, as soon as the plate touched the ground, Alex quietly fled from the area.

He snuck through the streets of Resilire Town, hoping to stay out of sight, hoping to make no sound. But as he turned to look at the gaps between two random houses, he saw someone. He had to run as fast and as quietly as he could, it was never safe at night. He didn’t dare turn his head back to see if the Pokemon was chasing him or not, he had to keep running.  
He was finally on the road towards Team Raichu’s base. He reached his hands forwards, but he tripped and fell on his path. He had to get up quickly, but he couldn’t get himself to stand up. In an agitated manner, he turned himself around, pushing himself backwards as fast as possible…

...but there was no one behind him. What was he thinking? No one was hunting him down. Damn it, it must have been his college habits going back to him. Damn that college.  
He walked past the entrance of the base, looking for Hounds door, and he slept in front of it. He was pretty sure Hounds locked the door again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s a familiar place. Alex once again called for the voice.  
But no one came. Alex continued calling.  
But still, no one came.

It was weird, since this looks like a normal dream to him, everything would be completely normal if the voice was present…  
But nobody seems to be here.

“No need to panic,” Alex said over and over to himself. “She probably needed to rest, she’ll come back tomorrow.” Which could be true, since the voice has already talked to him earlier this day, or was it yesterday? You can’t tell time in dreams.  
“I’ll do the thinking myself.”

“Hey Alex, how are you doing?” He asked in a slightly higher voice.  
“Fine, how about you?” He was talking to himself at this point.  
“Also fine. Say Alex, if there was one thing you wanted to bring to this world, what would it be?”  
“Oh, I want dubstep back. Definitely.”  
“I understand the appeal, but this sort of ‘music’ isn’t exactly my style. It sounds all the same to me, just my opinion.”  
“Oh, I’ve heard that a lot of times, no need to worry.”

Alex stopped for a while to contemplate.  
“Oh, what the fuck am I doing?” He lay down on the floor, if that was possible.

After a while, he started thinking about the day once again. In his mind, he listen down everything notable about the day, like Team Roger, Mt. Lavasire, the chillout areas, Lyra, Monster Houses, Hounds…

...and the monster.  
Who was that Pokemon anyway? He reached deeper into his memory. Then it snapped.

It looked like the silhouette of a Spearow.  
But before he could think about it any further, he was back in Team Raichu’s base, already being dragged down the stairs.


	3. Act 2: Curiosity and Conundrums / Day 3: Curiosity and Conundrums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Double Team gets sent to a mission to find a place called Lovely Garden, Alex notices something about his employer. Like there was something else that needed explaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter is undergoing dialogue and narration revisions at the moment. None of the main ideas of the plot will be changed, but some scenarios may be tamed or altered.)

“This... Lovely Garden…” Hounds asked Alex. “...is it even a real place?”  
“Well, no one really knows.” Alex guessed. “Maybe we should ask other people.”  
“Hold that thought, you nitwit.”  
“...What?”  
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to just spread word about our mission.” Hounds continued. “Especially when it’s a personal task entrusted to us by our leader who would definitely not approve of spreading word about it.”  
“I mean,” Alex replied. “Raichu hasn’t said anything about spreading word.”  
“I mean, Raichu totally let Porygon2 stay while she spoke about something personal.” Hounds sarcastically responded.

“Let’s just ask where Lovely Garden may be.” Alex said. “That’s one step, and it’s better than nothing.”  
There was a bit of silence for Team Team to think.  
“Hey, let’s ask this guy. He seems to know stuff.” He spoke as he pointed towards a Porygon2.  
Hounds stuttered, then said “Are you kidding me? That’s P2 for Arceus’ sake! Are you blind or something-- hey, wait!”  
Alex was waddling in a speed even Hounds could barely catch up.

“Good morning, Double Team.” P2 the Porygon2 greeted. “Is there anything you need?”  
“Uh, yes sir.” Alex answered. “Do you happen to know where--”  
Hounds continually tried to shut off Alex’s mouth.  
“...Lovely Garden is?”  
“Oh, Lovely Garden?” P2 responded. “Well…” He, or it (it identifies itself as a he), turned backwards to inspect a world map. “...In the moment, this ‘Lovely Garden’ you speak of has not been charted in the world map, so unless we gain further information, no one knows where it is.”  
“Have you got any idea where it could be though?”

“If ‘Lovely’, then locate area with dungeons most described as ‘lovely’ or synonyms. If ‘Garden’, then locate area most filled with plant life.” P2 spoke his thoughts out loud as he pointed his bill towards somewhere around…  
“P2, how is Mt. Lavasire a ‘lovely garden’!?” Hounds exclaimed.  
“I deeply apologize, I am extremely error-prone compared to other Porygon2.” P2 responded.

“Thanks for the help though,” Alex replied.  
“My job is to provide the finest possible help to Rescue Teams.” Porygon2 responded. “Return to me if you happen to need more help.”  
“See you, sir P2!” Alex thanked.  
“I forgot that he’d just help without being suspicious.” Hounds whispered to Alex. “I thought he would ask us if this was for the task or something--”  
“Hounds,” P2 unexpectedly spoke. “I had the impression that you were here because you needed help in a particular mission. What does the mission seem to be--”  
Hounds rushed through the team base’s entrance as fast as he could, dragging Alex along with him.

“...A client expressed gratitude in my help…” P2 said in a… sadder… tone than normal? “...A client really expressed gratitude in my help…”

They ran around Resilire Town, looking for Pokemon that look like they know things.  
The first idea that they had was to ask Kangaskhan. It would make sense, her storage system is one that every Rescue Team prioritizes. She’s so kind, that Teams that’s gone all sorts of places has probably had a chat or two with her.

“Hey, Kangaskhan.” Hounds said.  
“Oh,” She sounded slightly disappointed. “Hello there sweetie, what can I do for you?”  
Hounds went to place his elbow on the counter, as usual. “Ya know where ‘Lovely Garden’ is?”

She stopped in her tracks. “Lovely Garden?” She sounded surprised. “The last time I’ve heard of it was…” She placed her hand on a calendar near her. “...years ago. Now, if I remember correctly, a member of your team was the last to mention it to me.”  
“Who may it be?”  
“I think I remember, was it probably…” She responded. “...Lyra?”  
Hounds slammed his face on the counter. “But…”  
Double Team just encountered Lyra the other day. Lyra only visits Hounds every other 6 months, and when she does, it’s usually only for a short time. So this was a waste.

“Oh yeah, she looked so cute with that scarf. Oh I wish I could see her again, is she alright, wherever she is?”  
Hounds lifted his head up, wearing a rather annoyed expression in his face. “What did she say about it? Did she say anything about where it could be located? Or…”  
“I think what she said about it was ‘Can I have the Reviver Seed, please? Ka--” She stopped. “Raichu, wants me to help find Lovely Garden. I don’t know where it could be, though.’ I think it went that way. Of course, like the others, she did quit ever since Raichu fell--”  
“Huh?” Alex asked.  
“...It’s nothing, my child, don’t you worry about it.”  
The expression of Alex’s face started to wear a more skeptical look. It’s not every day that he does this.

“Is- Is that…” Hounds was pissed. “...all you can say about ‘Lovely Garden’? How about the other Pokemon that came before Lyra, did they say anything about it?”  
“Oh, the others?” Kangaskhan’s claw was on her chin. “I’m sorry to say, but, I can’t seem to remember any other memories about ‘Lovely Garden’, maybe later, I can probably remember more. I’ve been sitting here for a very, very long time now, you see.”

“Argh!” Hounds exclaimed out of frustration. “Well, Alex…”  
“Yes?” Alex suddenly let go of his suspicion.  
“That leaves our best option out of the window. Let’s just go.”  
Hounds turned around to walk back into the main road, when he bumped into something.  
“Watch where you’re going, my friend.” Someone laughed at him. Hounds looked up and saw Braviary staring back at him.

“Look who’s went crying back to us?” Dragonair sneered.  
“My goodness,” Meowstic groaned. “Are we going to bully some kid in front of Kangaskhan?”  
She hasn’t even finished that sentence yet and Hounds was already carried by Braviary’s claws.  
As soon as Hounds was already in his grasp, Braviary’s eyes met with Alex’s.  
“Oh right,” He said. “We didn’t forget that Hounds made a new friend, right?” He looked back to his teammates. “We should go ahead to say hello!”  
Team Roger walked, until they had Alex cornered.  
“Good morning, sir… uhh..” The tone in his voice suddenly turned from vain to confusion as he dropped Hounds. “...what do we call you again?”  
Alex was just staring at this dude. It’s like, what does this self-certified big boy want, let’s just get this over with.  
“He isn’t saying anything…” Braviary turned to Meowstic. “...Maybe we should play a game called guess his name?”  
“He certainly does look exhausted of your bullshit, Braviary.” Meowstic replied.

“Oh well,” Braviary regained his sneer as he turned back to Alex. “We’ll call you Magikarp, is that alright?” Dragonair almost spat out the water he was drinking.  
Alex continued to stand there.  
“Oh, I got a better idea, maybe call him Blankie!”  
The team behind him tried to hold it back, but they ended up bursting. It fit too well. Later, they were able to settle down.

“Sir Blankie!” Braviary suddenly exclaimed, and the team’s efforts to stay serious went down in vain, as they went back to laughing.  
Meanwhile, Alex was just staring at the team. then he noticed Meowstic. She does look pretty smart, I mean, Hounds did bring Alex exactly because they had to look for Pokemon that look like they know things.  
Alex started walking towards Meowstic, ignoring the fact that she was laughing at him just now. Soon, she ended up finding herself face to face with this weird Psyduck. It was honestly really uncomfortable, it was like he was staring into her soul.

“Hey, looks like Blankie wants a kissing!” Braviary was about to squish the two heads together when she kicked him in, probably the most painful place a guy could get hit in.  
“Quiet, you little shit.” Meowstic reprimanded as Braviary whined and whined.

“Do you know where Lovely Garden is?” Alex asked.  
“Ooh, planning a wedding already, huh?” Dragonair asked. It took Meowstic one glare to make him humble himself.  
“Lovely Garden?” Meowstic responded in a calm manner, forgetting the jokes from her two teammates that she dealt with. “I’m sorry, but I do not have a single clue about where this, ‘Lovely Garden’ may be located. My father does have a lovely garden, though.”

“Oh, where is it?” Alex’s voice was filled with intrigue. Meowstic wasn’t really sure about what’s with ‘Blankie’, is it because she described her father’s place with the words ‘lovely garden’? He’s literally the weirdest Pokemon she’s ever met, but at least he isn’t annoying like those two scumbags are, so she decided to answer anyway. “My ‘lovely garden’ is located in the top of a Mystery Dungeon called the Tower of Ashes. It’s the highest building from a city built by an ancient civilization, wiped out by Mt. Lavasire. It’s leaning towards a mountain. There’s a fake wall on the mountain side, and you’ll find me there.”  
As soon as Hounds heard Mt. Lavasire, he shivered. Imagine if Hell itself decided to ruin a city.  
“The city itself is pretty close to Mt. Lavasire, so you’ll find ashes still snowing on the already ash-filled ground. Also, you can still get a pretty good view of the whole area from the top of the tower despite the snowy sky, you can probably find Lovely Garden from there.”  
“Thank you.” Alex said.  
“I’m not telling the location of my house for nothing.” Meowstic glared at him. “What is your motive?”

Alex was not intimidated by Meowstic’s glare, but the truth came out of him anyway. “I was a human sent to save the world.”  
Meowstic almost gasped, and her glare disappeared. Did Alex say something wrong? He tried to reach his hand out to her, he needed to know.  
Meowstic started walking, then ran away, fading away from sight.

“Aww, did she dump you?” Dragonair sneered.  
“Hounds, let’s go.” Alex offered his hand to Hounds. Hounds’ paw threw away his hand harshly as he stood up. They walked out of Kangaskhan’s place, ignoring the ‘bad boy’s sidekick’ just like that.  
“Hey, losers.” Alex turned back at Braviary.  
“You know why us close friends don’t visit her?” Braviary asked. “It’s difficult to navigate that tower. It’s also a dusty place…” He rasped. “I even cough thinking about that place, was this actually how she goes home every time?”  
“Have you ever considered…” Alex replied. “...flying?”  
“Well, that’s an easier way to get wrecked by falling ash.”  
Alex left the two miserable boys alone, once again heading straight towards the road to the dungeons.  
Kangaskhan whispered to herself, “Oh dear, is there any hope left for the new Team Roger?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And I thought it was just P2 who was ‘error-prone’...” Hounds remarked as he observed the deserted remains of an ash-filled city from a nearby hill, then turned his head a little to the left to find Mt. Lavasire beside it.  
Though ash fell on the ground and slightly covered the air, Alex could still view the remains of a torn tower in the middle of the city, leaning on a nearby mountain that, though taller than the tower, barely stood up to the volcano near it. And he thought his room was a mess.

“Are you ready, Hounds?” Alex asked.  
“Well, it isn’t Mt. Lavasire.” Hounds answered.  
They went down the hill, navigated the fog-filled city, and here comes the hard part, they entered the dungeon.

This was a unique experience for any Rescue Team, Roger aside. The floor was slanted, and the floor was dusty, so you could easily slip if you weren’t so careful. There were traps laid out around the area, ready to snap up an unsuspecting Pokemon.  
Thankfully, there were no Monster Houses, not yet at least. Also, there were pillars stuck to the floor, which seemed relatively flat due to the inclination of the building, with boards or random debris bridging each pillar, making for a slightly easier way to navigate the dungeon. Unfortunately, the pillars were prone to breaking, or falling. Double Team learned that the hard way, as a pillar they were standing on collapsed under them, sending them falling.  
When they finally landed, they were in the dark, not knowing what was around them. Hounds was able to find a stick lying on the floor, lit it with fire, and handed it over to Alex.  
As they searched for an exit, Alex bumped into something. He turned the torch towards his front, and they found themselves not just in a void, but in a void full of Monsters.  
It was a panic fleeing from the room whilst avoiding fainting, but unlike Mt. Lavasire, they were able to leave with a few items they picked up along the way.

Eventually, they were able to reach the top of the Tower of Ashes after 12 floors of exploring.  
Meowstic was right; despite the ashes covering the air and the sky, almost the whole island could be viewed from the pinnacle. Yes, Double Team could see the whole area from here, but they had to see Meowstic first.  
Alex inspected the rocky walls, and eventually found the secret entrance to a dimly lit, and thankfully flat tunnel drilled into the mountain. They walked all the way down, and knocked on the wooden door at the end of it.  
There was no response. After a deep breath or two, they let themselves in through the door.

“Are you sure of it?” A voice that sounded like an older man said.  
“But Father, we both know I could tell if someone was telling the truth!”  
“I know that, Honey. But if what you say is true, then I need to meet the human.”  
“Which one?” Alex interrupted.  
The two Meowstic just stared at him.

“Oh… sorry,” Alex said. “Should I have waited until the door was open?” He was about to head back outside.  
“Father, this is the human!” Meowstic dragged Alex by hand (and thankfully not by foot) back inside the room.  
“Oh? That was strangely convenient.” The older Meowstic walked towards Alex.  
He started walking around him, observing every detail he could find. His messed up wavy… hairstyle? Feather-style? The drool on his scarf, his scarf which seemed to look normal-size, his blank expression, and… what is this note that he’s holding? Oh well, he’ll just bring it up later.  
Likewise, Alex was observing the older Meowstic as well, just not taking another step. His fur is pretty messed up, though not as Kenna’s fur. He looked like age took over him, as well as years took away from him. He also wore a pretty large bandana on his head. His eyes looked tired, yet deep inside, Alex could see… a young and ambitious explorer? A look in his eyes that resembled Hounds, and maybe even Raichu?

“Alright,” The older Meowstic finally stopped and spoke. “Come along.”  
“What’s your name?” Hounds asked as everyone walked through the living room.  
“I’ve been used to being called ‘Sticks’.” The Meowstic answered.  
“Wait--” Hounds was taken back. “...The ‘Sticks’? The physical Meowstic? Leader of the old--”  
“Who is the human here?” Sticks stopped in his tracks. “The human can stay, the other Pokemon, Honey, can you please escort him out of the tower?”  
“No, wait!” Hounds exclaimed. “Sorry, Mr. Sticks.”  
Sticks just turned back and continued in his path. Everyone followed suit.

While walking, Alex noticed Hounds’s eyes being… slightly starry? Other than that, he noticed an old picture, ruined by time probably as much as the note he was holding was.  
He noticed a younger and sassier looking Sticks in the picture, a Mandibuzz, and…  
“Hey, what are ya staring at?” Hounds interrupted Alex’s focus.  
Alex got a jumpscare, leading to more of Hounds’ laughter and extra mockery. He honestly thought something jumped from a picture, which… might actually be true…

...the picture also included a Houndoom, and it bore a striking resemblance to Hounds.  
But he couldn’t have any more time to think about this further, they’re already inside Sticks’ room.

“Honey, do you have anything else you want to do?” Sticks asked.  
“Is there anything else you want, father?” Meowstic, whose real name turned out to be Honey, responded.  
“No need. If you want, you may go now.”  
“I prefer to stay. May I, please?”  
“You may.”

Alex took a bit of his time to notice a few notable details in Sticks’ room from where he stood.  
The collection of old “Thank you” letters from old clients, a window that gave him an outside view from the other side of the mountain, a door beside it that led to his blooming lovely garden, as well as an old framed picture of another Meowstic, hanging over a table with jars of flowers.

“So, do you know why I have brought you here?” Sticks called for Alex’s attention.  
“...Huh? Sir?” Alex was late to register.  
“I’ve heard from my daughter that you are the human sent to save the world. Is that correct?”  
“...I honestly wish I wasn’t.”

“I understand.” Sticks replied. “Sometimes, things go in a way that screws things up.” He walked towards the window, and spent a lot of time gazing at his garden, silently. “I remember when I was younger. I was desperate for any sort of help after having lost so much.” Having heard this, Alex glanced back at the picture frame, then back to Sticks.  
“After so many years of searching for, a possible answer that could solve everything…” Sticks spoke. “...I was told by a wise Pokemon named Espeon that...”  
“That..?” Hounds sounded less interested in this topic than everyone else was.  
“...one day, a human would come to make things right.” Sticks turned back, facing Alex.  
“...Saving the world?” Alex replied. “There was this voice, told me I was here to save the world…”  
“He didn’t exactly tell me what “making things right” meant exactly, and I still do not understand what it means to this day.” Sticks answered. “But let’s just assume you are here to, apparently, save the world.”

“...I’m sorry…” Hounds spoke. “...But I feel like this is all stupid.”  
Everyone in the room was silent. Honey turned her head away from the book in her hands, Alex turned to face Hounds, but Sticks stood in place.  
“I beg your pardon?” Sticks responded.  
“So you’re saying you’re just waiting for some human to come along and fix things?”  
“Exactly.” Sticks said. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but--”

“DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY?” Hounds raised his voice a bit. “You’re Mr. Sticks! You’ve done so much! You could’ve tried to help, instead of just hiding away to a cave like a coward!”  
“YOU--” Honey stood up from her chair. “...You dare call my father a--”  
“SILENCE!” Sticks ordered.

“I can’t understand any better than you all do when it comes to why things are like this.” Sticks sat down on his chair. “I’m sorry.”  
“But... “ Alex turned to see Hounds. His eyes were… almost about to shed a tear? “...you could have maybe helped find Q-”  
“Leave.” Sticks interrupted.  
“Mr. Sticks?”  
“Honey, please escort him outside of the house.”  
“Father?”  
“You heard me.”

Hounds and Honey went through the door.  
It was just Sticks and Alex.

“Is there anything you want?” Sticks sounded tired.  
“...I’m sorry.” Alex could only say.  
“No need to be sorry.” He replied. “It was never your fault.”

Alex stared through the window.  
“Say, what are you doing at the moment?” Sticks said.  
Alex finally laid down his note on the table.

“Lovely Garden…” Sticks inspected the note. “...That girl still cares, huh?”  
Alex was confused. Leader Raichu… didn’t care about a personal problem once, what did he mean?  
“When I was younger, I also tried to search for Lovely Garden to help Ka- excuse me, Raichu.” He continued. “Even after she--”  
“...She what..?”  
“We don’t talk about it.” He responded. “Anyways, getting to the point, I’ve searched all the places I could think of that could lead to ‘Lovely Garden’. My best lead seems to be a Mystery Dungeon called ‘Dull Brook’. Don’t ask me how such a place could somehow lead to a lovely garden, I still don’t understand it either. I also haven’t updated data on it yet, maybe the least you can do is update it for me.”  
“Thank you Mr. Sticks.” Alex was about to head out of the room.  
“Wait.” Sticks added. “If you happen to meet someone in the end of the dungeon, don’t ask him about what’s going on, or for help in understanding what you’re meant to do.”

“Why..?”  
“He’s gone insane, I’ve heard it was apparently because of the loss of his brother.” He explained. “If you’re lucky enough, you don’t have to meet him. If he does, don’t expect him to help you. On the contrary, expect him to show no mercy.”  
Alex gulped. “Who is he?”  
Sticks took exactly ten seconds to take a deep breath, and finally answer.

“...Espeon.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Alex could see after leaving the house was both Hounds and Meowstic being a good distance apart from each other. Did they sort it out? Are they still mad at each other for what happened earlier? He wanted to know, but he didn’t want to be rude. “I’ll just talk to them,” Alex thought.

“Hey, uhh…” Alex called. “Honey?”  
“...What did you just call me?” She threatened.  
“Mr. Sticks did call you--”  
“Only my family calls me Honey.” She turned back.  
“...Oh, uhh, sorry…” Alex apologized. “...H- Meowstic.”  
“Hey, Alex.” Hounds said. “What now? Did we come here for a reason, or?”  
“Say, Meowstic.” Alex asked her. “Do you know where Dull Brook is? I forgot to ask Mr. Sticks.”  
“Alright, follow me.” She responded.

Hounds and Alex followed her to the highest point of the tilted tower.  
“Trying looking very far, maybe a little past Mt. Lavasire.” She said. Honestly, Mt. Lavasire didn’t look as scary from here. Though it still appeared tall, maybe it’s because they were far away from Hell. “See that black looking spot in the north, but also a little to the west? There’s Dull Brooke.” She continued.

“Thanks, Meowstic.” Alex said.  
“You’re also thankful that you’re the human from the prophecy, because if you weren’t, you’d be falling to the ground from here seconds ago. Also, you would not be welcome to visit my house whenever you need help from either me, or my father. See you.”

It was time for Double Team to finish their visit to the Tower of Ashes.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things went as usual in the evening. After finishing his own, Hounds was munching on Spearow’s plate, again. Unfortunately, that meant Alex had to give up his own dinner to Kenna, there was going to be no race again. And he was pretty sure he was only lucky that Leader Raichu gave him the extra food. Alex didn’t care, though, he wasn’t really thinking about his stomach anyway.

“You know Mr. Sticks?” Hounds’ mouth was full as he asked Alex. “I think he was the leader of the old Team Roger. I’ve read somewhere that the old Team Roger was pretty good.” Count Alex interested. “Y’know, before I joined this team, I was originally going to sign up for Team Roger…” His tone changed. “...But man, all I got was having to deal with that stupid Braviary. I mean, why would I want to get help from the new Team Roger? They’re incredibly ridiculous!”  
“Times changed, Hounds.” P2 replied.  
“I know that, shut up.” He shot back.  
“And things will continue to change. We may never know what may happen. Maybe Braviary would learn how to be a better leader one day. Maybe you would learn how to humble yourself too.”  
“Fuck off, P2.”  
“Well then.” He went back to consuming his self-processed rations.

“So, we’re going to this ‘Dull Brook’ next, huh?”  
“Uhh… oh, yeah!” Alex’s mind was caught up by the resemblance between the Houndoom and Hounds. He needed to know more. After he deals with whatever problem Espeon may have, maybe he could ask Mr. Sticks about… no.  
Mr. Sticks is too hesitant to talk about anything in the past, maybe he actually seems to be a bit of a coward himself. What happened to him? What caused Team Raichu and Roger’s ‘downfall’? What happened to Leader Raichu? Even Kangaskhan talked about it. He need a way, or something. Maybe if he could help the single parent and his daughter, he could gain his trust.

Once again, it was time for everyone to head back to their rooms, and sleep the night away…  
...but not for Alex. He understands that he could go ahead and do whatever he can to help anyone in the morning, but he still had to help one more.

Alex laid down his plate under the canopy again. He wasted no time and left as quickly and as silently as he came. Though, there was no Spearow in sight this time. Honestly, he considered himself lucky that he was able to keep this stealth up for two nights. Back in the human world, he could barely even take 10 minutes before he was mugged again. The next thing he knew, he was drifting off in front of Hounds’ door again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Alex?”  
It was that voice again.  
“Lady voice thing…” Alex started pouring all his concerns. “...I feel like I’m carrying way too much, lady voice thing. I don’t know if I can…”  
“You can do it, Alex. I believe in you. I was sure you were made for this. Isn’t your name Alexis? It means ‘defender’, doesn’t it?”  
“Im…” He responded. “...You think my parents still didn’t give up on me because they chose that name?”  
“I believe you just need to understand things better.”

“I’m pretty sure I understand how the world works, lady voice thing.” Alex stood up. “They just want to tear you apart all over again, bringing hope in front of your face, and forcing you to watch it burn down.”  
“...You’re not in that world anymore, Alex.” She replied. “So try to understand this new one.”  
Alex didn’t object. “I’ll try.” He replied.

Then it all faded to black.


	4. Act 2: Curiosity and Conundrums / Day 4: Weakness of a Psycho-type

He was… early? The sunlight shone down, but it looked dull. Maybe like a 5 AM early. Speaking of dull, Alex guessed that maybe he could use this extra time to prepare for Dull Brook. He wasn’t so sleepy.  
He started walking towards the stairs, when the door hit him. It was the sixth time in his new life that he was being dragged by a Houndour. Third time down the stairs.

“Oh, wait. It’s a bit too early, isn’t it?” Hounds realized. “Oh well.”  
What happened next was the first time in his new life, or even his existence, that he was being dragged by a Houndour, up the stairs. This was a new experience for him, surprisingly.

Once Hounds was back in his room, Alex took a couple seconds to stand up again. He’s developed a headache, which is funny; being dragged down the stairs doesn’t ache so much anymore, but up the stairs is a whole ‘nother story. Unable to walk properly from all this pain, he fell down the stairs.

Another couple seconds to stand up yet again. Alex’s first idea was to buy stuff from the Kecleon Shop. He did remember Hounds saying that they do open at 5, so this doesn’t seem to be a bad idea.  
He headed towards the entrance of his Base, when he heard someone behind him.  
“Good morning,” P2 said. “It appears that you are up pretty early, care to explain?”  
“...Let’s just say, extra time.” Alex answered.  
“Is it because of ‘Lovely Garden’?”  
“Technically.”

“You appear to exert a lot of effort in what you do.” P2 remarked. “For a team of your experience, you’ve cleared eighth floors in the most difficult Dungeon in these parts. There are stories passed around the town talking about how you’re currently carrying on a search that has been going on for years, somehow. Telling me that you would wake earlier to gain ‘extra time’ to exert more work like this is pretty admirable. Please, do keep it up.”  
“But P2…” Alex said. “I didn’t really want to do all this.”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“I’ve only been here for, like, three days.” He explained. “I was just being dragged into this.”

“No need to worry, fellow explorer!” P2 reassured. “All you need is a bit of my help, the finest help in town.”  
“Gee, thanks P2.”  
“Now, what sort of help do you need?”  
“I’m going to a ‘Dull Brook’. I’ve been told that I’d also have to fight someone.”  
“Is that so?” P2 replied. “Well then, follow me!”

Alex followed him through the same corridor they went through to visit Leader Raichu. However, they went through the second door before hers.  
He found a room with a bunch of gizmos and gadgets, cleanly laid out in their own places. The room still had a bit of a mess, a couple of vitamins randomly sitting on different tables, and a few papers scattered around the room.

“Espeon…” P2 spoke as he scanned through his cabinets.  
“...You know him?” Alex asked.  
“...Everyone knows him, and what happened to him.” He continued. “I understand that it may be no known sure way for anyone to calm him down, but I have a possible solution. Eureka!” He exclaimed as he pulled out what looked like a Technical Machine. He went back to Alex.

“This will teach you a move called Shadow Claw.” He explained. “Shadow Claw is a Ghost-type move, and Ghost is super effective offensively towards Psychic-types like, say, Espeon. According to my research, Shadow Claw can be taught to Psyduck like you.”  
"Wait a second..." Alex replied. "...So you're saying I should battle it out?"  
"I deeply apologize, but it seems to be the only way."  
“But, can’t someone else do it? Also, doesn’t there seem to be any sort of peaceful way to--”  
“Believe me, once again, this seems to be the only way. It may seem as a surprise, but because of Espeon, no one dares to pay a visit to Dull Brooke other than you. Let’s also say that it isn’t exactly a ‘explorer-friendly’ place, you could barely see anything there.”  
“I don’t know, maybe if the reason was because his brother was missing, maybe find his brother for him?”

“...Oh, Alex.” P2 said. “You should realize that I am so very pleased that you do not know anything.”  
“Do not know… what?”  
“Anyways, I wish you luck in your journey, have fun learning Shadow Claw, now goodbye!”  
“Hey, wait a second--”  
Somehow, Alex was back outside. But he wasn’t ready to get out. He was confused. He needed answers. What just happened?

“Hey, good of you to pay a visit to P2.” Alex turned his head, and found Hounds walking across the corridor.  
“Wait, how long was I in P2’s room?”  
“Nah, it’s just that I couldn’t sleep. It still looks pretty early, though.” Hounds answered. “Also, looks like he gave you a gift, what is it?” He snatched the Technical Machine from Alex’s hands.

“Ooh, looks like a Shadow Claw. Well, too bad I have paws. Looks like we’re going to sell this to Kecleon, who knows how much it could sell for?”  
“I have claws.” Alex interfered. “Or... uh, hands that can learn how to perform Shadow Claw.”  
“You can learn?” Hounds replied. “Oh, where was I again? Right, catch you later.” He started running out of the corridor.

He looked behind him to see if Alex was still catching up to him, and a proud grin formed in his face as he saw nothing. He was a few feet away from the other end of the corridor when he looked forward, seeing Alex already in front of him.

“Damnit!” He handed over Shadow Claw to Alex.  
“Anyways, you know a thing or two about a Technical Machine, right?” Alex asked.  
“First, it teaches you moves. Second, they’re contained in little portable disks. Satisfied?” Hounds answered reluctantly.  
“I know both. Maybe is there anyone else you know that knows how the machines teach?”

“I know a couple of Move Tutors that may or may not, probably not, know how they work. After all, the way they teach moves certainly aren't in the same way as machines do.”  
“Back in the human world, visual depictions show the machines kinda goes on top of their heads, and then they learn it, voila! But I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”  
“I’ve heard about humans enslaving Pokemon and feeding them Hidden Machines, you’re probably one of those humans so you must have done it on your Pokemon before.”  
“I just give them a Technical Machine and the next thing I know, they already know the move. So no, I have zero idea.”  
“Well, looks like no one really knows how Technical Machines work, huh?”

Eventually, Alex was able to learn Shadow Claw. It took him a while to figure out the Machine, and Hounds did a bit of buying and taking out of storage while Alex was stuck trying to figure out how it worked. But he was able to learn the move, and just needed a little more practice to get the hang of it.  
But still, he didn’t know how Technical Machines work. He just did something, and then suddenly, he learned the basics of how to execute the move, and that was just it.

But honestly, Alex can just leave Technical Machines and how they work to be overanalyzed for another day. By now, they’ve prepared themselves for the task at hand. To navigate Dull Brooke and hopefully finding a link to Lovely Garden.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four floors into the Mystery Dungeon.  
The Dungeon may be dark and damp, but it honestly wasn’t so bad, Alex thought, especially with his new identity as a Water-type Pokemon. It may be filled with stealthy monsters, waiting to ambush a Pokemon that doesn’t swim too well. It does smell a bit, but honestly, you’d never want to know what smells he’s had to smell back in his hellhole of a, but otherwise weird, college.  
No, the worst part here is having to carry the whole weight of a Houndour who was scared of water, every time they had to cross a river. Alex was starting to dislike P2’s decision to give him Shadow Claw, only to be used for a final boss that might not even appear before him, and not Surf, which would make it easier for Double Team, or at least Hounds, to navigate the dungeon. He was not so cool about having to go through fifteen floors of this, the experience almost stood up to Mt. Lavasire.

And the experience is pretty similar to Mt. Lavasire. Occasionally, there would be land, and if Double Team were lucky to find a patch of rocky surface in the muddy soil, they could sit down and rest for a bit. The plant life helped cover them from the slightly raining sky, so it was all good, and Hounds could go light a fire and grab some warmth with some nice scenery, unless the plants also covered a bad and sneaky Pokemon hiding in the shadows. Sometimes, there would be faint rays of light that helped illuminate the dark place a little. It doesn’t look as beautiful as Mt. Lavasire’s chillout areas, but this was nice in its own way.

However, that was only occasionally. In the most cases, the dungeon looked pretty messy, and navigating it was even uglier. But Alex knew that things were going to get even more vile than this. The next thing he knew, Double Team is already facing the 14th stairs of the dungeon.

“Hey, Hounds.” Alex stopped him from going down the stairs.  
“What, dad?” Hounds replied.  
“Espeon’s up there.”  
“So?”

“I think he can help us.” Alex continued. “I’ve been told otherwise, but, I think he might--”  
“What makes you think I need his help, let alone yours?” Hounds heckled.  
“Maybe he can help you find this ‘Q’-”  
“SHUT UP!”  
“I’m sorry…”  
“You better be.”

Alex took a while to think to himself. Then he turned back, and headed out of the room.  
“Hey--” Hounds yelled. “...The stairs are here! What do you think, I’d follow you?”  
Alex was getting father and father away.  
“Oh, forget it!” He grumbled.

Hounds followed Alex’s footsteps, and he was able to find him, face to face with a bad Pokemon.  
In the dimly lit room, Hounds thought Alex’s hand shapeshifted to a more cruel looking claw. Oh, great.  
Alex slowly closed in on the Pokemon, but he was slightly trembling. Hounds could see him raise his Shadow Claw, but he appeared to still have a hard time moving his hand.  
Before Alex could move any more, the Pokemon hurt him badly with an Absorb.

A weakened Alex fell back, and fell on Hounds.  
“Alex, you stupid f--”  
Hounds wasn’t able to finish his sentence before the bad and crazy Pokemon started performing Acid. He had to run. Hounds grabbed Alex’s foot and started running away, trying to remember which corridor led to the stairs room while the Pokemon seized them at an alarming speed.  
Hounds looked back. In only a few seconds, it will be able to catch them. Hounds decided to stop and used Ember, hoping to give even a few seconds of stalling.  
The chase felt like it went on for eternity. The dark didn’t help him find his way, and Alex’s weight didn’t help Hounds move faster.  
Hounds was starting to lose control of his legs, when he was able to focus, the best his frantic mind could, at the room of the stairs. When the Team finally reached the stairs, Hounds wasted no time to climb down.

“I can’t believe you, Alex!” Hounds scolded as they went through a dark corridor. “How are we supposed to deal with this ‘bossfight’? You’re too weak, you can’t even--”  
They have already reached the end of the tunnel, and all there was to sight was a cliff, and a view of the gloomy swamp landscape.  
“Wh- what?” Hounds sounded distraught as he faced Alex. “Is that it?!”  
Alex didn’t answer.

“Oh, look. Just another wonderful scenery that I would sit down for a long time to paint!” Hounds continued. “That’s the reward for going through all this and having to drag around a fool who can’t even fight, while being chased around by a hysterical Pokemon! Nice scenery!”  
Alex tried to speak. “But--”  
“Yeah, who needs a link to a place that probably doesn’t exist? This is great scenery!”  
“I’m--”  
“You’re what? Who do you think gives a shit, huh?”  
Alex just stood there.  
“Who do you think gives a shit? I’m just going to go back to eat some fucking dinner.”

Hounds turned around, and started approaching the tunnel. But he turned his back again.  
“Hey, am I just going to leave you here? Or-- ALEX WATCH OUT--”

Alex was slammed forward, his body thrown back on the ground.  
“You--” Hounds scanned his Treasure Bag frantically for a Reviver Seed. He fed the seed to Alex, and Alex slowly stood up. Then Hounds faced the attacker and yelled, “Hey, what’s your problem?!”

“My problem?” The Pokemon revealed itself from the shadows. “You trespass my personal space, and you dare speak to me like that?”  
“Espeon,” Alex tried to speak. “We can talk about this, we don’t need to--”  
“Talk?” Espeon interrupted. “You only want to talk? You even think world peace will form out of nowhere with some small chit-chat? You think it’ll just end like that--”  
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Hounds bit Espeon with the Dark-type move. He collapsed. He had a hard time standing up again, even falling down for a second time from the pain of the sharp bite.  
An attack from a Pokemon as Hounds’ level was never meant to hurt a much more experienced Pokemon as much as it did. That was when Alex realized that Hounds seemed more personal than he thought.  
He took steps back as Espeon finally stood up again.

“You…” the Espeon said. “...you do not want to hurt me. I warn you.” His psychic powers amplified, lifting himself up from the ground, circles forming around him.  
“TO HELL WITH PEACE!” Hounds let out his battle cry.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hounds ran max speed towards Espeon and jumped, about to Bite him again, when Espeon Double Kicked Hounds before he got the chance. He fell on the ground.  
Espeon drifted towards Hounds, his tail forming a more iron look.  
Before he was able to strike him, Alex dragged Hounds’ body away from the spot, leading Espeon to scrape his tail on the rocky surface instead.  
Then he glared at Alex. He formed a Shadow Ball in his paws, and threw it at Alex.  
Alex barely dodged it.

“Oh, you also do shadows?” Alex equipped his Shadow Claw, and with the claw, he gestured Espeon to make his next move. “Me too.”  
Espeon went for Psychic in a fit of rage. It almost threw Alex off his balance, but it didn’t hurt so much.

“Ok, my turn.” He appeared to run towards Espeon. He readied his Double Kick for counterattack, but Alex sharply turned away, throwing him off.  
Alex was frantically running around him in circles. “What kind of foolishness is this?” Espeon gave up the waiting game and dove towards where he thought Alex would end up. Alex was barely able to slide past him, switching direction at the last second. Espeon’s feet ended up being struck by the jagged floor.  
Alex quickly turned around and leaped on Espeon to deliver his Shadow Claw.  
Before Alex was able to hit him again, he was sent flying by a quick Iron Tail.

As Hounds was finally able to stand up after struggling, Alex landed on Hounds, pushing him towards the ground again.  
“ENOUGH.” Espeon started laughing maniacally. He went insane as he let himself levitate again, formed a Shadow Ball in his hands, and shot it towards Double Team. It sent them to the air again.

When they both landed, they had a hard time catching their breaths. They couldn’t bring theirselves to stand up. Espeon continued to use Psychic on Alex, sending him Alex towards the cliff. Alex was hanging on for dear life, while also hating himself for ending up in this cliche situation.

Alex could barely see Espeon put himself back on the floor. He could barely hear footsteps coming closer through the ringing in his head.  
“So long, Shadow Claw.” He braced himself for what happened next.

But before he fell down, he heard Espeon cough.  
“What- What is this?!” He choked.  
“It’s what you get.” Hounds set Embers to Espeon’s fur. Espeon fell back with a frantic and desperate shriek. Alex could hear the sound of someone who was in great pain.  
“Get your ass up, Alex.” Hounds offered his paw to Alex. Alex gladly took it, and as he was lifted back to the top, Hounds said, “I think it’s about time I dealt with this loser.”

Espeon, unable to move from the burns and exhaustion,laid down on the ground, and started sobbing.  
“I… I’m so sorry…”  
Alex could only stare at him. He didn’t want to help, but wanted to, if that made any sense.  
“Hey, I wasted my entire day having to deal with him. I don’t want to spend my whole life. Let’s go.” Hounds was already walking back towards the tunnel.

“I just wanted to see him. Is he alright? Is my little brother…” Espeon’s wailing was as frantic as his fighting.  
Alex knelt down. He couldn’t believe that he actually thought fighting would solve anything for one moment. But the worst part of it all, was that he won. He hurt another person. He could hear himself saying silently, “...I’m sorry too.”  
“My brother, my sweet little brother, I just want to see him…” Espeon repeated to himself over and over again, sounding more desperate the more time passed on. He kept trying to stand up, but the battle left him stuck on the ground.  
“Oh my Arceus, Alex. You know what? I’m going by myself, I’ll take your dinner too.”  
“My precious little brother, I want to see if he’s hatched from his cute little egg, I just want to see what his wonderful face looks like, he’s my family to me, I want to see my family…”

Alex, from the corner of his eyes, thought he saw Hounds stop in his tracks.  
He turned his head to see if he did, but when he turned to face Hounds, he was nowhere to be found in the tunnel. But he saw him next to Espeon.

“What the hell do you even want, loser?” He said in his haughty voice, but Alex could clearly see a few tears in his eyes. “Do you want me to beat you up?”  
“N-no… nononono… I just want to… sorry… I’m so…”  
“What?”

“I just… I just…” Espeon’s voice was starting to get weaker. “...sorry… I… I’m so sorry, my brother…”  
Alex decided to move just a few inches closer to him, and not much other than that. Soon, he was face to face with him.  
“...my sweet, sweet brother…” Alex could notice Espeon’s eyes closing very slowly.

“...What do we do with him?” Hounds asked after a long while. “He’s kinda crazy, but…”  
“Let’s bring him...” Alex placed an oddly peaceful-looking Espeon on Hounds’ back. “...Maybe to our room.”  
“In our--” Hounds almost yelped. He tried to keep it quietly as he continued with, “I’m not bringing a lunatic to our place for nothing.”  
“Ahem, as leader of the team, we’re going to bring a lunatic to our place.” Alex tried to grab a somewhat confident accent. “That’s an order.”  
“Fuck you.” Hounds started walking out of the tunnel.

The three departed from the dungeon without any more scratches.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Tell me about it, Alex?” P2 said. “Were you able to calm him down, or…”  
“Uhh… technically.” Alex replied.  
“Oh, what happened then?”

“Let’s just say he took a break.” Alex glanced at Hounds, and the “bag of items” on his back.  
Espeon was a pretty big deal in the Resilire Town community, they would be insane to let anyone see him and start asking questions about everything.  
Espeon didn’t have the best mental health, and if he was driven crazy enough, he could start wiping out the whole town. No, he would obviously not wipe out a whole town, but still.  
The reason why Alex and Hounds both feel like they’re sneaking a bomb into the president’s house, or something like that.

“Oh, that’s nice. He definitely does deserve one.” P2 responded. “Speaking of breaks, you two do need one! Come over to the tables, dinner is ready.”  
“Cool!” Hounds replied. “Let’s go, Alex!”

Double Team was headed for the table room, or at least Alex thought so. Alex stopped to see Hounds go through a detour, and while no one other than him was looking, Hounds took his time to bring Espeon through his door. Then Hounds rushed back to Alex’s side, and they slipped into their places in the tables like nothing ever happened.  
Dinner went as usual, pretty much, including the absent Spearow and his stolen plate.

The first thing that came to Alex’s mind as he left the dinner table was to pay a visit to Leader Raichu.  
By himself, he walked the long corridor and gave a few knocks. No answer. He went through the door.

The first thing he saw was a Raichu, face pressed down on a table covered in papers, covered in papers.  
Alex took another step in Raichu’s room. Raichu slowly lifted her head up a bit, then immediately sprung into a proper sitting position, caught all the papers sent flying, and grabbed her pen, dragging it across the papers. The pen’s travels went a bit too far beyond Paperland, though.

“Hello, Alex.” Raichu cheerfully greeted. “What is it? Or can you tell me about how that Lovely Garden search is going on? Oh right, here’s some of my dinner.” She poured her dinner to Alex’s plate.  
“Sorry, Ma’am…”  
“Miss.”

“Miss, I think it’ll take a while until we actually find this ‘Lovely Garden’.”  
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Alex.” Raichu reassured. “The search has actually been going on for years, actually. Say, have you learned anything new about ‘Lovely Garden’ today?”  
“Oh, I learned that a Mystery Dungeon called Dull Brook is probably a link to ‘Lovely Garden’.”  
“Dull Brook?” She replied. I’m sorry if I wasted your time, having you to send you both through the dark dungeon like that. It was a possible link years ago, but I updated it, Lovely Garden can’t possibly be there.”  
Alex took three seconds to just stare.  
“I mean really, how can a dark and muddy swamp lead to-- Who told you that?”  
“Mr. Sticks, Miss.”

There was an uncomfortable ten seconds that followed. Suddenly, the “cheery music” drained away.  
“So… Is there anything else…” Raichu spoke. “...Anything else you’ve learned?”  
“Uhh… no, miss.”  
“Really? Golly, I thought you looked like you still had something else you want to say.” She spoke in a less cheery voice. “Maybe something you’ve heard? Something you want to understand better?”  
Alex wasn’t sure anymore.  
“Say it.” Raichu whispered.  
“Uhh… I, uh…”  
“He said something else to you, too, didn’t he?”

“I think I’ve heard something about when you f--” Alex couldn’t speak any longer.  
“...When I… what?” A smile grew on Raichu’s face, but not a friendly one.  
“...Was it something I said?” Alex stuttered.  
“Where’s the pressure? Go ahead, say it!”  
Alex stood silent.

“...Oh, too shy?” There was something hard. Something that made Alex feel like he was being threatened. In Raichu’s voice. He should’ve never brought this up. “...Well, that’s too bad. I hope you get the courage to speak more. I know! Maybe a bit of time can help you?”  
Alex stepped back two steps as Raichu stood up from her seat.  
“P2?” She called.  
Shortly after, the Porygon2 arrived, saying, “Yes, Leader Raichu?”  
“Can you escort Alex out of the room, please?”  
“As you wish.”

The next thing he knew, he was already out of Raichu’s room. He didn’t understand what just happened, but not in the way that he missed out on something because he didn’t pay attention. It was more of being puzzled about why and what went wrong.

Oh well, at least he got extra dinner this time.  
He waited until it was late at night, then snuck out of the building to give food to Kenna. After his sneaky business was done, he returned to the front of Hounds’ door, and dozed off.+--

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Congratulations, Alex.”  
“Uhh…” Alex sounded confused. “What did I do?”  
“You’re close.”  
“Close to what..?”  
“Close to ..vi.g .h. ...first... ..k..o...."  
“Wait… Lady voice--”  
The voice was gone.

“What was I close to?” Alex was left even more confused than before. “I need answers… I need…”


	5. Act 2: Curiosity and Conundrums / Day 5: Falling into Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Double Team gets sent to a mission to find a place called Lovely Garden, Alex notices something about his employer. Like there was something else that needed explaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter is undergoing dialogue and narration revisions at the moment. None of the main ideas of the plot will be changed, but some scenarios may be tamed or altered.)

The day went as usual, or so Alex thought.  
There was the door slamming his body, but there were no stairs hitting his head two seconds after.

“Wake up, Alex.” Hounds ordered. “You remember our old sadist friend, right? We gotta deal with him first.”  
Alex was finally allowed to go inside Hounds’ room. Not much has changed since the last time he observed the mess pit, other than a large bag tied up to a wooden pole supporting the room.

Hounds pulled down a bit of the bag, revealing a sleeping Espeon.  
“Hounds, are you sure he isn’t dead?” Alex said. “Did you leave him any hole to breathe from?”  
“Do the thing.” Hounds responded.  
“Wh- What thing?”  
“The Water Gun… thing.”  
“But you can’t just--”  
“What, you want me to use Ember instead?”  
“Ok, fine. If he starts fighting everyone, I’ll make sure you’re the first victim.”  
“Don’t worry, I got him tied up, you see?”  
“You actually think that’ll--”  
“Do the thing!”

Alex shot a Water Gun at Espeon, waking him up.  
“You know a thing or two about ‘Lovely Garden’?”  
“Wait, I have just been awoken.” Espeon responded. “Can you repeat that to me, please?”  
“Repeat?” Hounds replied. “Alex, do the thing again.”  
“What? No.”  
Embers started forming in Hounds’ paws, only to be extinguished by Alex.  
“Ok, fine.”

Espeon was hit by another shot of water, then Hounds said, “Lovely Garden. Where is it?”  
“Trust me, without the voice that speaks to me, my knowledge is pretty much the same as the next Pokemon.”  
“A voice speaks to you too-” Alex exclaimed.  
“Quiet! Me and our friend Espy are the only ones supposed to speak here.”  
“Oh, I am allowed to speak too? Well, yes.” Espeon started answering Alex. “I’ve been described as the prophet or something of the area, and you can’t be a prophet if you don’t get your information from somewhere.”  
“I did say you can speak, but I didn’t say you could speak about anything outside of our small chit-chat.” Hounds taunted. “Now, tell me where ‘Lovely Garden’ is.”

“...I do not know a place called ‘Lovely Garden’. This is all I can tell you.”  
“Well…” Hounds said. “That’s what I was afraid of.”  
Fire started to develop around his paws again. The embers crept towards Espeon, but a psychic force easily pushed away the flames.  
“This is just foolish. I’ve spent too much of my life having to deal with this problem, and asking this question to myself.” Espeon uttered. “Why do people claim to want the truth, when the only thing they want to hear is what they want to hear? Or should I just tell a lie instead? Why are you even asking me in the first place?”

“I’ve been told ‘Lovely Garden’ was linked to Dull Brooke. You live in Dull Brooke.” Hounds replied.  
“Believe me, Dull Brooke was never linked to Lovely Garden.” Espeon responded. “It just took a while for all of us to understand that. The Psyduck, he knows about this.”  
“Alex, care to explain?”  
“I visited Raichu, she did say that what Mr. Sticks said was outdated.”  
“Why didn’t you tell--” The door caught Hounds’ eyes. “...Well, that’s your problem for being late.”  
There was no hiding the fact that Hounds locking out Alex obviously wasn’t time based, even if Alex tried to enter the room earlier.

“Look, if you have any other questions, just get on with it.” Espeon sounded irritated.  
“What’s the voi--”  
“Only me and Psychic can speak.”  
“Let’s see if you can form any better questions than him.” Espeon challenged. “Have you any better questions?”  
“Yeah, bitch.”

Hounds started pushing Alex out of the room. He had the door locked once again, but that didn’t stop Alex from pressing his ear on it.

“Where…” Alex could barely hear Hounds. “...is Quills?”  
He heard chuckling. Then soon it turned into laughter.  
“Desperate.” Espeon giggled. “You’re desperate.”  
“Answer the question.”  
“Should I answer with a yes or no?”  
“Don’t you play your fucking tricks on me. That stupid Psyduck won’t be here to save you now.”  
“Wherever he is…” Espeon said. “...He doesn’t want anyone to find out.”  
Alex thought he heard the sound of a hard thwack seconds after.  
“Don’t lie to me. I swear, I know that…”

Hounds’ voice seemed to get quieter, until Alex couldn’t hear what he said after that.  
“I’m truly sorry…” Espeon answered. “...But I do not know where he might be either.”  
Alex heard another thump. And then came another, much louder thump. As far as he could tell, the room fell silent.

Alex decided that this was probably a good time to leave, more than ever. He quietly climbed down the stairs, and ran through the entrance of the Team Base.

Alex was actually in his free time in the morning, which honestly surprised him. As he thought about it, he realized that all those other days in the past was basically him being dragged around to all sorts of places. Speaking of being dragged around, Alex still hasn’t seen Hounds yet. Did he even leave his room?

Anyways, Alex took this opportunity to check on the canopy from a distance. The plate was gone. Alex was glad someone had a good meal, though he was praying to himself that no one in Team Raichu, especially P2, didn’t notice the continuous decrease of plates in the kitchen.  
He moved on to take the paths to the Bulletin Board.  
He scanned the board, looking at the different letters. There were no S-tier jobs this time, which honestly, is a bit of a relief. There were a few jobs taking place at Haunted Hollow. There were some from Mt. Lavarsi, but all in either D or C tier. Yep, Mt. Lavarsi was definitely nerfed. There were a few others from Dull Brooke, and a few other places he doesn’t recognize the names of. But honestly, Alex wasn’t feeling like going back into Dull Brooke, or going into a new place that would have the same challenges as that place, making it feel like going back there.  
No, he was feeling like taking jobs that took places in dungeons that felt “just right”. He doesn’t have to attempt to save the world 24/7, and he wished he took that in mind more.  
He took all the jobs that took place in the Tower of Ashes. Maybe he can also talk to Mr. Sticks, he might help him tie the knots that needed tying. Alex turned back to hit the road.  
...And great, that annoying Braviary is back at it again.

“Yo, Sir Blankie!” He called. “How’s life?”  
“It was going well until your hideous face showed up.” Alex casually answered as he put the letters in his bag.  
“B-But… my face is handsome, isn’t it..?” Braviary flinched. “Hey Meowstic, I’m handsome, right?”  
“Definitely not. In fact, your face is a nightmare.”  
“H-h-Hey, Sir Blankie, if anyone’s ugly here, it’s going to have to be Dragonair, not me!”  
“At least my scars show that I have guts.” Dragonair replied. “What’s uglier than scars though, is the lack of dignity.”

“Oh, what’s wrong with all of you?” Braviary whined. “Anyways, Sir Blankie, how’s your friend? I miss him.”  
“First, he’s not my friend, and second, I don’t know.”  
“Anyways, you got all the jobs you want?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Alex answered as he walked away from the board.  
Team Roger went ahead and discussed among themselves which jobs they should take for the day.

Alex continued going on his own way, walking through the streets of Resilire Town, buying items from the Kecleon Shop to prepare for his missions. The Kecleon were somehow nice to him, though he was affiliated with Hounds. It’s probably because he’s not Hounds, though. The purple Kecleon was nice enough to let him in with some info about the history of the town.

“Did you know that there was a myth going around in other places that the townspeople here were extremely stubborn?”  
“Let me guess…” Alex replied.  
“Well, that may be half-true, but…” The purple Kecleon chuckled. “ ...the fact that the city always refuses to be crushed down doesn’t mean that we’re over-the-top stubborn as others think.”  
Alex watched Kecleon check his prices and do some maths.  
“Hey, uhh…”

“What is it?”  
“So, uhh, I feel like I’m not allowed to say this but…”  
“No worries, go ahead!”  
“What happened to Raichu?”  
“Heh, a lot of things happened to Raichu. What are you--”

The purple Kecleon stopped.  
“Brother…” The green Kecleon faced him.  
“...No, it’s ok.”  
“...But--”  
“I declare that I will not live in fear anymore.” The purple Kecleon continued. “We will stand up to anything, for that is what Resilire Town is all about.”  
“...Brother…”

Alex was probably wrong to bring this up too early. “I’m sorry, is it something that I--”  
“No. It is our fault for not speaking. But we still have to keep it silent, just in case.”  
The Kecleon looked past behind him. Alex turned back, to see that thankfully no one was around. Then he turned back to Kecleon, who leaned in closer to him. The green Kecleon followed.

“It’s been years since I last heard of it, so forgive me if my memory is a little blurry.” Purple whispered.  
“Yeah, forgive us.”  
“It’s alright.” Alex felt like he was buying illegal drugs in the middle of broad daylight. The fact that someone who sells drugs was in front of him made the thought worse.  
“So, Raichu, or…”  
“Fuck it, Kachy.”  
“Yeah, fine Kachy.”  
“Kachy..?” Alex asked.  
“No one’s ever called Raichu that since..”  
“...She's changed." Purps said. "...Fuck it, I'll be a bit more honest, her mind was wiped out."  
“And because of that, she wasn’t exactly the same ‘Kachy’ as before.”  
“That pretty much caused everything to go downhill.”  
She wasn’t exactly the same Kachy? That explained why Alex thought her voice didn’t sound so sincere as she talked about her lifelong dream.

“She’s cheery this time though. A cheery bastard.”  
“Haha, good one Purps.”  
“Speaking of cheery, I remember Rhys.”  
“Oh, yeah. Rhys. Oh, I miss her so much, Greens.”  
“I know, right? Where could that adorable little shit be now?”  
“She’s so much musical talent, make noise sound like perfectly fine music. Or was it A...” Alex was pretty sure that was a name, but it sounded unclear. "...who was also behind it? Either way, the were a creative duo-"  
“Hey, stop, we have a customer over here who’s not here for rambling.”  
“Shit, sorry.”  
“No, it’s alright--” Alex objected.

“Anyways, anything else?”  
“Yeah, uhh... do you have Surf?” Alex was caught off-guard by the sudden topic change.  
“Surf? Oh, sorry, but we don’t have that here. Not yet at least.” He answered. “But even if it was, it would have to be bought for a high price, maybe 5,000 Poke in the least.”  
Alex checked his bag which carried barely 20 Poke.  
“Oh, that’s pretty unfortunate. Thanks, anyways.”  
“No prob. If you want any more gizmos and gadgets, stop by!”  
“Or a good little story.” Greens quickly added in a whisper.  
“You can always come back to us!” The Kecleon said proudly in unison as they put their arms in each others’ sides, their other hands open wide, like they were showing the rest of their neat collection of merchandise.  
“Thank you so much, sirs.”  
“You’re always welcome.” They called as they watched Alex go off into the distance.

“Fun guy, isn’t he?”  
“I want to take a drink with him late in the night sometimes.” Greens replied. “Maybe this time we could actually give him the good drink instead of just Pecha juice.”  
“...Rhys…” Tears formed in Purps’ eyes.  
The two hugged each other for comfort.

Alex continued in his stroll. But he felt a presence.  
He turned back to see Team Roger, stopping and acting “normal” as he watched them. He decided to just face back forward and continue walking.  
After a bit, he turned again, barely able to watch Braviary and his gang stop and start acting normally.  
He slowly turned to his front, then his head quickly spinned to face behind him, causing Braviary to trip.  
Alex could feel his hand hit his own face.

“Hello, Sir Blankie!” Braviary tried to speak as if this was the first time he spoke to him this day. “How’s life?”  
With his other hand, Alex dared to direct a certain gesture at Braviary. He then continued walking farther and farther away.

“I’m sorry Sir Blankie, it was because your girlfriend needed to talk with you.”  
“Ship me with this weirdo one more time,” Meowstic shot back. “And I swear, I’ll make his hand go up your--”  
“Family-friendly language only, Honey.” Dragonair heckled. “Only I can be non-family-friendly.”  
“YOU DARE CALL ME--”  
“Let’s all get ourselves a nice group hug,” Braviary tried to spread his wings around his teammates. “Why can’t we all be--”

Two Thunderbolts hit the poor Braviary. What a wholesome team moment.  
“It’s so unfair.” H-Meowstic argued with Dragonair once Braviary was on the floor. “All because you’re a wannabe war machine? You’re not a little boy anymore, grow up.”  
“Bold of you to call me a little boy.” Dragonair took a confident standing position, and Alex thought he doubled in height in first glance. “I am a grown man, ready to die for anything.”  
“So be it.” Meowstic spun quickly, causing Dragonair to fall on the ground from an Iron Tail. “Oh? That didn’t kill you? Too bad.”  
“What was that for!?”

Alex just walked away.  
“Hey, w-wait!” Meowstic called.  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake what is it?” An annoyed and irritated Alex turned to face her.  
“I’ve observed that after you took your jobs, the count of jobs taking place in the Tower of Ashes dropped to zero.”  
“So?” Alex replied. “I took all of them. I thought I wanted to see your dad, but now I don’t think I have to--”  
“Can I have your bag for a second?”  
“Yeah, whatever.” Alex gave away his bag like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Meowstic proceeded to open both his and her bag, and started stuffing Alex’s bag with the letters in hers.  
“I have to participate in more rescue missions along with these idiots.” She pointed towards the ‘big bois’, who were helpless and lying on the floor once again. “So can you help clean up my place a bit for me? Thank you so much.” She passed Alex’s bag back to him.

“Uhh… what?”  
“Stand up, you little shits.” Meowstic tried to pull the two off the ground, but they couldn’t get themselves up. “Ok, fine. You asked for it.”  
She turned around and started walking away, using her psychic powers to throw Braviary and Dragonair forward as she went.

Alex went to check his bag. Somehow, there were more jobs than the bag could carry. Now he felt like he was carrying a burden. There was also no need to talk to Mr. Sticks anymore.  
“Thank Arceus, I was late.” Alex could hear a familiar voice behind him say. “So you got the jobs, huh? Weirdly convenient, but I swear, if I find one S-tier job…”

Hounds snatched the bag from Alex and inspected it himself.  
“...That’s weird, what happened to ‘Oh my Arceus, I want to save the world!” or something? Oh, yeah, right, you brought in way too many letters.”  
“But--”  
“Oh well, I’m not complaining. Let’s go already.”  
How many times was Alex being dragged by foot? He lost count.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One step into the dungeon.

“Alright. What was the first job again?” Hounds asked. “Oh, right.” He turned back to a Trapinch. “You better not try anything funny to kill yourself before we reach your friend.”  
The Trapinch with his crooked smile, gave two pretty big nods.  
“Let’s go.”

The three navigated the dungeon even further.

Two floors into the dungeon.  
Hounds was almost about to give up looking for the client stuck in that floor. The whole floor was cleared, every place to wander to stepped on. But as he picked up the loot in a room, he spotted a Pokemon stuck underneath some debris.

“Hey, you alright?” Alex called.  
“I’m fine…” Alex could barely hear the exhausted Pokemon.  
“We’ll get you out of there, you got it?”  
The Pokemon made a weak yelp.

Alex approached the Pokemon. “Hey,” He called back to Hounds. “Got any crowbars?”  
“Wait, what--”  
“Just kidding.”  
He prepared to smash the debris away using Brick Break, which he was thankful he bought from Kecleon earlier in the day.

He carried the injured and tired Pokemon back, and laid it down before the rest of the team.  
“You got tissues or anything?”  
“Hey, we’re rescuers, not nurses.”  
“Just, you got anything?”  
“Nope, sorry.” Hounds answered. “Unless he wants an Oran Berry.”  
Alex reached out his hands, but the berry flew past him, sending him running to catch it before it rolled away into the abyss below.

He ran back to the Pokemon.  
“Here, take this.” Alex got the Pokemon to sit up, and gave it the berry to give it even a few tranquil seconds. “It’s pretty tasty and will help you feel better.”  
“...T-thank you…” The Pokemon’s eyes seemed to gleam as it stared at him.

The Pokemon disappeared into the sky as the magical power of Hounds’ badge took them out of the dungeon.  
It was time for the next job.

Five floors into the dungeon.  
What was the next job again? Oh, right… Taking down a FUGITIVE?!  
Well, that explains the extra bad looking Pokemon in the front of Team Team.

“Cover your mouth, Alex.” Hounds started altering the air with Smog. “Crap, that might probably be the wrong move.” He said as he watched the Poison-type Pokemon dart towards them.  
“Run.” Hounds attempted to reach Alex’s foot, but the outlaw already hit them.

It was a series of failing to attack, trying to run away, and pure panic.  
Eventually, the final blow was landed on Double Team, and they were unable to stand up from the ground as the fugitive continued to creep closer to the fallen team. It was about to strike another hit on them when, from a pillar overhead, the Trapinch fell down between them.

“Hey...” Hounds rasped. “..Didn’t I tell you to…”  
“Is this some sort of joke?” The outlaw haughtily guffawed. “Looks like someone lost their kid over here! Don’t worry child, I’ll send you back home.”

“No…” Alex tried to reach out to Trapinch, but it was too late.  
The fugitive prepared an attack. It seemed to look even more powerful than any other attack Double Team has even seen.  
“Don’t cry now.” It yelled at Trapinch. “Think happy thoughts--”

The Trapinch simply threw a mixture of sand and ash in the bad guy’s eyes. Having lost focus, the power in its hands vanished.

Suddenly, a wall of the mix rose from the ground, trapping the fugitive. Trapinch’s smile grew more crooked and his eyes turned black.  
“W e l c o m e t o t h e A r e n a T r a p .”

Alex and Hounds just watched as the helpless outlaw screeched in pain. Its shrieks desperate, guttural, and crying for help as Trapinch scraped its skin with sands and rocks. It will be defeated in no time.  
Well, that was oddly… convenient? Alex and Hounds slowly crept backwards as the horror scene continued to unfold.

Six floors into the dungeon.  
Hounds still kept his distance from Trapinch, he couldn’t ignore what just happened earlier.  
Oh well, at least they didn’t have any more fugitives to fight, and after taking a quick rest, they continued on to find the client of the floor.

“Hey there,” Alex called to a random Pokemon standing in the middle of nowhere. “We’re here to rescue you.”  
“Actually uhh,” The Pokemon replied. “I know my ways in this dungeon, don’t worry about me.”  
“Then…” Alex was perplexed. “...Why are you…”  
“I’m just waiting for someone to get me an Oran Berry.” It explained. “Do you happen to have any?”  
Alex scanned his bag, and he realized to his dismay, that he would have to give up the team’s last Oran Berry to pull off the mission.  
“Hounds..?”  
“Eh, don’t care.”

Reluctantly, Alex gave up the Berry to his client, and he disappeared into the sky.  
“Well,” Alex spoke. “This is going to get rough.”

Ten floors into the dungeon.  
After a couple more rescues and item seeking, the final mission left to carry out was to escort Trapinch to a certain Vibrava. He looked back to check on Trapinch. He looked exactly the same as he did back in the first floor.

“Let’s uhh…” Hounds kept a reasonable distance, but not too far away from Trapinch. “...L-let’s get this done quick.”  
After a couple of rooms, they finally found the Vibrava.

“Alright kid, there’s your friend, now leave us.”  
Trapinch helped Vibrava to get up.

“Thank you…” Vibrava said. “...who are you?”  
“We’re, um…” Hounds replied. “...Team Team. You can call us Double Team.”  
“I don’t mean to offend, but your team certainly looks pretty small for a Double Team.”  
“Let’s just talk about this later.”

The two friends were carried out of the dungeon by a magical power.  
“Well, we did everything.” Hounds said. “Let’s just grab ourselves some dinner.”  
“Yeah, sure…” Alex started taking steps, after a few seconds, he stopped. Then he turned back.  
“Actually…”  
“What?”

Alex climbed up the stairs that were already in that same room.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is there anything you probably want to clarify?” Alex asked.  
“Not from him.” Hounds spoke in a harsh tone as he turned back.  
“Alright.”

Alex walked through the corridor, and gave three knocks on Mr. Sticks’ door.  
There was once again no answer.  
He knocked three more times.  
Still no answer.

He was not going to intrude again. He decided that maybe he’ll just wait until tomorrow.  
He was halfway through the corridor back when…

“...Hey, kid!”  
Alex turned back to see a messier-looking than yesterday Sticks.  
“Sorry for making you wait for so long. Come on in, if you want.”

“Uhh, Mr. Sticks?”  
“Yes?”  
“Turns out Dull Brooke was never connected to Lovely Garden.”  
“Well, good to know.”  
“What made you think Dull Brooke was related to Lovely Garden anyway?”  
“Like I said, it didn’t really make sense why,” Sticks explained. “I’m not sure why it could be connected to Lovely Garden, or…”  
“No, I was asking for what made you think, not how you think, sorry.”

“Oh. You’ll have to follow me for that one.”  
Alex tracked Sticks’ footsteps. As he walked around the house, his eyes were stuck on the hung picture of the Old Team Roger. Particularly the Houndoom in the picture.

“Dooms.”  
“What?”  
“Arthur was too great of a friend.” Sticks continued. “I was an Espurr who was a couple years younger than Dooms, who was maybe Hounds’ age at the time. I looked up to him, someone who didn’t know what fear was.”  
“That’s cool.”  
“I was honestly really naive, and thought I could just walk up to him and ask to be friends, seeing how great he was, and look at who I was back then. I was somewhat too dumb for a Psychic-type. But, I’m glad I was naive.”  
“Why?”  
“As I looked up to him from below, he cared enough to lift me up to his level.”  
“Man… Sounds like a good friend.”  
“Yes. He was easily the greatest Pokemon I’ve ever met. He was too brave for a Pokemon. He pulled off rescues perfectly, he was the ideal rescuer, and all he could do is love and serve with a smile. But… Eventually he ended up fearing something.”  
“...What happened?”

Sticks stopped in his tracks.  
“He feared that something would happen to his child.”  
“...Wait, why?”  
“Let’s say that there was this disaster. It caused bad Pokemon to grow wilder, and…”  
“And..?” Alex was desperate to know more.  
“Dooms gave his life to buy some time for his wife to hide the egg from them.” Sticks sighed. “He was too brave.”  
“What happened to the egg?”  
“Please do not say a word of what I said to Hounds. It would make sense for an orphan to try and find his parents, I think so, but… I don’t want to break his heart again.”  
Alex walked closer towards the dead end, to get a better view of the world from the window.  
“What about the disaster, what-”  
“Enough questions. I’ve said all that I know.”

Alex turned back to Sticks. That was a lie even clearer to see through than glass.  
“Alright, thank you Mr. Sticks, for sharing that story…” He said. “...but you haven’t answered my first question yet…”  
“What was it again?”  
“What made you think that Dull Brooke was the best link to Lovely Garden?”  
“Oh, yeah. Right.”

Meowstic took two steps towards Alex.  
“...It was probably just a vision. Or not. I’d tell you to ask her, but she forgot.”  
“Forgot… what?”

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”  
“What do you--”  
“I have a feeling that you know too much, human.”  
“Know too much?” Alex took a couple steps forward. “But--”

Sticks unleashed an old and slightly rusted blade.  
“Things are more peaceful this way.” He said. “I’m not allowing you to make a mess.”  
“...M-Mr. Sticks?!”  
“Stay perfectly still.”

Alex looked up to see an iron sabre over him.  
He dodged it in the last second. He slipped through Sticks, hitting him with a Brick Break.  
Alex didn’t understand. All of a sudden, he had to run for his life as fast as he could. He just wanted to know more.

“You can’t run from me!” Sticks yelled as he swung his blade.  
“What happened to fixing things?!”  
“CAN’T YOU SEE? EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT!”

Finally, Alex made it into the rocky tunnel that connected the inside to the outside.  
He tried to be careful, trying not to trip on the rocks below him.  
But he fell down from the rocks flying above him. He tried to stand up as quick as he could, but he was kicked before he could get himself up.

“It’s over, kid.”  
All Alex could see was a sword that was about to chop his head in half.  
A deafening thwack echoed through the tunnel.

A cut was made on Alex’s face, but the blade narrowly missed his head.  
Alex landed a Shadow Claw on Mr. Sticks. As Sticks put his paw on his scratched face, Alex ran for the outside. Sticks continued to pursue a few seconds later.

Alex could see Hounds sitting down on the edge of the inclined tower, staring at the panorama in front of him. But he was punched to the ground before he could reach him.

“Why leave so soon?”

Hounds turned back to see Alex behind him. Sticks was already a few feet away.  
“Hey, Alex, what’s going on-”  
Alex pushed himself and Hounds off the edge, sending them tumbling down the harsh debris scattered around the sides of the tower.  
Sticks didn’t follow them down, but rather turned back.

Alex and Hounds walked away from the ash-filled ruins, back to the forest. They collapsed from pain and exhaustion.  
“W-what was that for, huh?!” Hounds, being less tired than Alex, yelled at him.  
“I’m sorry-”  
“You’re always sorry, stop saying that shit!”  
“But Sticks-”  
“Sticks what?!”  
Alex couldn’t bring himself to say anything.  
“Y-you…” Hounds just laughed. “I-I don’t even understand myself either, why did I think anything would come out of this?”  
He struggled to stand up, but once he did, he walked deeper into the forest. Alex followed along, though he knew Hounds didn’t want him to. After a long while of walking, they stopped in a place in the forest, where the trees left a lot of space for a huge rock in the middle.

“It’s been like, ten years…” Hounds muttered. “...why am I…”  
Ten years? Of… what..?  
Hounds turned back to Alex.  
“I need some more space.” He said in the most frustrated tone Alex has heard from him.  
“Hounds..?”  
“LEAVE ME ALONE.”  
Alex walked away.

He checked the road to the ruined city, to see if anyone was following them.  
The coast was somehow clear.  
Alex strolled back into the woods, and sat under one of the trees. He didn’t notice it, but he dozed off.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

Alex’s eyes almost formed tears.  
“I’m sorry if it’s too hard on you.”  
“No, it’s… it’s…”  
He couldn’t say he was fine.  
“...I just…”

“You don’t have to try to save the world 24/7, Alex.” The voice said. “Isn’t that what you thought as you went to the tower?”  
“Yeah, but…” Alex replied. “...I feel like I’m getting dragged along.”

“Three words,” The voice finally spoke after a bit of silence. “Take a break.”  
“I-I’ll try.”  
“There isn’t really that much else to worry about other than your mission.” She continued. “Don’t worry about it.”  
“Thanks, lady voice thing.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex woke up. It feels like two hours just passed.  
What happened during the rest of the time?

He ran back to where he last saw Hounds.  
He found him staring blankly into the trees, sitting on top of a rock.  
He could barely hear what Hounds was saying.

“I know this isn’t right, Quills.” Alex heard the whispers. “I’m just… I don’t know. I just feel too lost…”  
Alex tried to get closer to Hounds, while also trying to hide under the rock as well. But Alex didn’t hear even the slightest whisper for many minutes.  
“I should probably just let go, shouldn’t I?” Hounds finally continued. “I’m sorry, Quills.”

Alex’s trying to get closer was probably a little overboard, as he is already right next to Hounds. But he didn’t mind the presence, somehow.  
“Alex, you know…” Alex’s attention was caught as he faced Hounds. “...ever since we met each other and formed this weird team, things suddenly felt, a bit too stacked, and stuff.”  
“Same.”  
“I’m just hoping to take a break for a bit. Give me at least a dozen hours or two to breathe from having to, like, fight a psycho.”  
“Yeah, same.”

The two were just staring into the afternoon skies.  
“So, you want to grab dinner?” Alex asked.  
“Hell yeah.”

After dinner, Hounds gestured Alex to follow him as he headed towards his room.  
They opened the door, and found the “sack of berries”.  
Hounds untied the bag, but no Espeon could be found.  
“Oh, crap…” Hounds took three steps back.

Alex’s first reaction was to check for footsteps. It wouldn’t be that hard to get your feet on the berry juice mess on the floor. But there were no footprints to be seen. He forgot that he could levitate. But…

“Hey, wait-” Hounds reached out to Alex, who was running out of the room.  
“Hey, P2…” Alex was already in a conversation.  
“Good evening, Alex.” Greeted P2. “What may it be that brings you to me?”  
“P2? Have you happened to spot any Pokemon that came out of Hounds’ room that isn’t a Houndour or…” Alex glanced at his hands. “...A Psyduck? Just needed to know.”  
“A Pokemon that isn’t a Psyduck or a Houndour in your room?”  
“...Hounds’ room. Not exactly mine.”  
“Trust me, I would know if a Pokemon that isn’t a part of this team visited our base.”  
Excellent job, P2.  
“As for departures, other than Pokemon from our team, I haven’t noticed any.”  
“Thank you for your help, P2.”  
“You’re welcome.”  
Alex turned back to see a pissed, but slightly satisfied Hounds.  
“I was about to kill you for that.” Hounds said.  
“You’re welcome.”  
“Thank you.”

Both just stood there, not knowing what exactly to say next.  
“Ok, good night, Hounds.” Alex waved at Hounds as he walked out of the base.  
“The- hey, wait!”  
“Where are you both going at this hour?” P2 called.

Alex snuck around Resilire Town a bit too earlier than normal, but thankfully there were only very few lights open.  
Alex was so stealthy, Hounds, or anyone really, couldn’t see him.

Soon, Alex was already at the canopy, about to present his dinner plate once again.  
He laid it down, and turned back to see Hounds behind him.  
“Oh, this is where you went every night.” Hounds said. “I guess you like her too.”  
“What?! No-- Hounds…” Alex was stuttering. “What are you doing here? How did you know-”  
“I’ll admit it takes me too long to doze off.”  
“I was just being told to-”  
Alex dragged Hounds behind a house.

“I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be out this late though, or-” Hounds talked.  
“I know, but please be quiet.” Alex frantically replied.  
“P2 saw it, there isn’t really that much to hide anymore.”  
“It’s still not as bad as going out in 11, isn’t it-”  
“But-”  
“Stop, stop, shut.”  
Alex muffled Hounds’ mouth as he watched Kenna walk out of the shadows.

“...Huh.” Kenna spoke as she inspected the plate. “...It’s usually later than this.”  
Alex poked his head a bit to see Kenna clearer.  
“...Oh well, if it’s food, it’s food.” She turned back to the shadows. Then she came back to the light, carrying a sack. She placed the plate inside the sack, and started dragging it back to the dark along with her.  
Alex tried to calm himself down, but his stuttery excitement was a bit too loud, and caused the Fennekin to turn back.  
“Hold on…”  
She started sniffing her way closer to Alex.  
All that was going on in Alex’s mind was two words. Oh shit.  
“She would be pretty good in hide and seek, I’ll have you know.” Hounds whispered.  
“You’re not helping.” Alex whispered back in a raised voice as they hugged the wall, trying to get farther away from Kenna.

When the opportunity came, Alex ran away, dragging Hounds all the way through the streets back to Team Raichu’s Base.

“Well… Thank you?” Kenna retreated to the shadows.

“You know, there’s really no need to hide from her.” Hounds said. “It’s not like she would try to kill you.”  
“I just didn’t want to scare her.” Alex replied. “Oh, did she try to kill you?”  
“Heh…” Hounds said in a haughty voice. Then he suddenly sat down wearing a frown on his face. “...Yes, she did try to kill me.”  
“Why, though?”  
“Let’s just say…” He explained. “...I liked her a lot.”

Alex immediately saw the connection.  


\--- --- ---  


“Hey, do you mind if you don’t follow me when I go out to give food to Kenna?”  
“Not a problem.” Hounds replied. “You got to watch out for P2, still. Speaking of him…”  
Hounds turned to face Porygon2, who was just across the room from them.  
“P2, sorry if Alex over here rushed out of the base all of a sudden.” He said as he walked towards him. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”  
“Not too much of a problem.” P2 responded. “In fact, you only left at 7 PM, while the lights out time is 9 PM.”  
“Well, it’s only half-past 7, so…” Hounds faced Alex. “...I guess we could use the extra time?”

“Yeah. Say, Hounds…” Alex said. “...What were we doing before I went out?”  
“Hmm…”

“Oh, crap! Espeon!” Hounds exclaimed.  
“Oh, yeah, right!”  
“What about Espeon, I may inquire?” P2 asked.  
“Don’t talk about it!” Hounds shouted as he placed his paw on P2’s beak, and rushed out of the building.

“...Rather… Interesting…” P2 said in a very intrigued tone.

Alex was feeling very confused in the streets. They just tried to run away from there and now they were just taking a casual stroll in the middle of the road.  
They were walking around aimlessly, when…

“Hey there, fella!” A familiar voice called on Alex.  
“Oh, hi Kecleon.” Hounds said.  
“No, not you.” Purps replied. “You.” Alex turned back to see Purps pointing at him.  
“So, what brings you here at this hour?”  
“Say, have you seen an Espeon around here?” Alex asked.  
“You- What did you just say-” Hounds sounded irritated.

“Say, you’ve tried to kidnap him?”  
“Yep.”  
“NO!”  
“Yeah, it’s actually pretty difficult, I don’t blame ya.” Purps replied. “I mean, everyone, myself included, doesn’t stop until they find the answers they want, and Espeon does get a lot of answers from… wherever he gets it from.”  
“Yeah, I’m not even done with him yet.” Hounds said.  
“But!” Purps continued. “Understand that other than that, he’s just another Pokemon, just like us. Maybe not even he is able to get the answers to every question, and wow, it took more than his best persuasion to get us to understand it. To think that he isn't even good at persuasion in the first place. Just... give him a break, maybe we could have a drink or two and a nice chat. Maybe we can both figure out everything.”  
“...That’s… Actually not a bad idea.”  
“...That’s exactly what Espeon was trying to tell you, Hounds.”  
“But…”

Purps unlocked the door to his shop. Hounds tried to walk inside when he shut the door on his face.  
“First, if we’re going to be good friends from this point on, I need to know what we can call you.”  
“Alex.”  
“Your worst nightmare.”  
“Alright, got it.”

Purps opened the door again. Then slammed it on Hounds’ face a second time.  
“What’s your darkest secret?” Purps said in a dark tone. “Just kidding.”  
He finally opened the door and walked through a corridor inside the building.  
Double Team followed suit.

“Hey, Greens, do you mind if I let some friends in?”  
“No prob.”  
“Pretty sure you know these two, right?” Purps looked back and gestured Double Team to come forward.  
  
“Hey, it’s the Psyduck!”  
“It is the Psyduck.”  
“Say, how old are you?”  
“19…” Alex answered. “...In human years… How does age work for Pokemon?”  
“Purps, you’ve brought a real funny one.” Greens said. “Good job.” He went towards a cabinet across the room, opened it, and brought back to the table a bottle of wine.  
He poured it into four cups, and passed it to everyone in the room.  
“Enjoy yourselves.” He said.  
“...I’m… uhh…” Hounds was… intimidated..? By the cup of alcohol. “...a minor.”  
“Oh, that’s funny.” Greens took the cup away from Hounds. “More for me.”  
“We’ve talked about this Greens.” Purps took the cup away from him.  
“But…”  
“I don’t want you getting out of control like last time.”  
  
“Alright, getting to the point.” Purps faced Alex and Hounds. “So what do you both want to know?”  
“We’re being told to find Lovely Garden.” Alex blankly said.  
“Oh man,” Purps replied. “It feels somewhat like yesterday, but now look at me.” He faced his hands. “From the cool brothers to middle-aged trash bags.” He chuckled. “Anyways, Lovely Garden, right?”  
“...Yes.”  
“I don’t want to be that one waste of time, but I don’t exactly know where it is.”  
Hounds immediately headed for the exit.  
  
“But! If you let us explain more!” Purps called.  
“...What?” Hounds bitterly said.  
“Me and Greens over here have a really terrible idea, but a good one.”  
Hounds reluctantly followed Alex as he walked closer to the brothers.  
“...Maybe if we tried to ask, we could get the answers.”  
“Ask… who?” Alex asked.  
  
“...the Sea Basin ‘mon.”  
“O-ok, you’re fucking insane.” Hounds stepped back. “You’re asking us to try and have a nice talk with Kyogre?”  
“Yes?”  
“Wh-Why?”  
  
“Simple.” Greens tried to speak straight. “Kyogre, though in bad terms with Groudon…”  
“A bit childishly, I have to admit.” Purps added.  
“...Actually had a lot of time conversing about, you know, anything.”  
“You can say they know each other like they know themselves.”  
“Groudon is literally the land. Of course he would know where this ‘Lovely Garden’ is, or if it exists at all.”  
“But we’re not saying you should find Groudon, because, well, he’s pretty deep though.”  
“Especially when Kyogre is easier to reach. Though still deep in the sea, should be manageable for the skilled Double Team. Not to mention Alex being a water type.”  
“What about the other one, though?”  
“Haha…”  
  
“So you’re saying…” Hounds said. “...We’re going to toss ourselves into the sea, and hope Kyogre doesn’t want to eat us and that he would be so kind as to give directions? Up, up, down, down, left, right, left right? Simple? Just like that?”  
  
“Look, kid.” Purps replied. “This is like the only way we know now.”  
“We also had a couple other ideas, and,” Greens added. “Fun fact, we didn’t actually share this idea to Kachy, ever. It appeared too nonsensical.”  
“Unfortunately, everything else was just proven wrong.”  
Hounds could only stare.  
“Look,” Purps sighed. “This search has been left to collect dust for a decade and half. You know what we had to deal with during that long amount of time?”  
“...We couldn’t stop thinking about Rhys. When Kachy changed for the worse, I can only imagine that Rhys was truly hurt, and she ran away from everything.”  
“We were always concerned about her.”  
“So please, if not for you, maybe for us, or if not, maybe for her.”  
  
“...Fine.” Hounds could only bring himself to say. He sounded... genuine? “Oh well, you have anything for a Fire-type that can help deal with water?”  
“Nah, don’t really have too much of an idea, but…” Greens pointed to Purps.  
“...Can you hold on a sec, buddy?”  
Purps ran towards his storages. Then he came back with another Technical Machine.  
“Sweet, sweet Solar Beam. Grass-type move.”  
“I already know Thunder Fang, Purps.” Hounds dismissed. “No, thanks.”  
  
Purps approached Greens. “This is your fault.”  
“Wh-What?”  
“We’ve had to deal with this guy for a decade yet you still don’t know his moves.”  
“When- when was knowing the moves of Pokemon my responsibility?”  
“We’re supposed to be helping Rescue Teams, so of course we should know.”  
“Oh, yeah?” Greens stood up. “How about you, you know his moves?”  
“No, but it’s not my problem.”  
  
“Alright, guys, guys.” Hounds said. “We get it, you’re both pretty stupid. Now what were you going to do?”  
“Oh, yeah, right.” Greens walked towards the storage, and returned to the room a few minutes later, his hands carrying a charcoal.  
  
“I know this isn’t going to help you fight off water…” He passed the charcoal to Hounds. “...But it’ll help you a lot elsewhere. But I’ll also give this to you as some kind of good luck charm for when you face Kyogre.”  
  
Hounds didn’t really care at that point. He simply accepted the Charcoal.  
  
“Alright, see you both again soon!” Purps gestured for them to go out of the room. “It’s been a fun talk.”  
Hounds and Alex started walking towards the corridor out of the shop.  
“Hey.”  
  
They faced Greens.  
“Try not to get too political.” Greens added. “About garbage and stuff.”  
“What?” Alex spat. But suddenly, he understood what he meant.  
“Alright, goodbye fellow friends, get a good sleep!” Greens waved them off.  
They continued their departure.  
  
  
  
“Alright,” Hounds spat immediately after they arrived at the Team Raichu Base. “...I just want to take a break, and now we have to deal with Kyogre himself?”  
“...What?” Alex said.  
Hounds wondered if Alex didn’t follow anything the Kecleon brothers said.  
  
“...Can, can we just not do this?” He continued. “You know what? I’m tired of this, I’m just going to bed.” Hounds climbed up the stairs to his room, and shut the door behind him.  
Not long after, Alex followed, climbing the same stairs, but lay down in front of the door.  
  
A long while passed, and he eventually fell into slumber.  
  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
“Hello, Alex.” The voice greeted.  
“...Take a break, huh?” Alex said.  
  
“Believe me,” She replied. “Facing the ocean is not going to be a difficult matter.”  
“..?”  
“You could say that this is pretty much a break.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
“A break from the more difficult parts of your journey.”  
“...I don’t understand, lady voice thing…” Alex scratched his head. “...I don’t at all.”  
She chuckled.  
“You don’t have to.” She reassured him. “It’ll be over before you know it…”  
  
“...What?”  
  
But the voice didn’t respond back.  



	6. Act 2: Curiosity and Conundrums / Day 6: Crazy Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...Alright, we meet at the Bulletin Board. 11:50. There, we draw lots on who will go ahead to Seething Deep first. It’s either Team Roger, you losers, or that weird girl over there- Wait, where is she? Oh well. Too bad she probably won’t come. Not my fault. The lot-drawing ends at twelve. At exactly two, the chosen ones go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this day took so long to write, hopefully you enjoy it all nonetheless! :)

An uncomfortable and even more confused Alex stood up.  
His sleep didn’t refresh him at all, and his dream only left his head more perplexed than ever. So it didn’t help when the door slammed on his body again.  
Before Hounds could reach for his feet, Alex held Hounds’ left back paw, and went down the stairs.  
  
Alex let go as soon as he reached the main floor level, and immediately headed towards the exit.  
“Oww…. man.” Hounds couldn’t bring himself to stand up. “...T-that hurt… Why so mad all of a sudden?”  
  
Alex was already in the middle of the road to Resilire Town when Hounds caught up to him.  
“Ow, hey take that back!” Hounds whined.

“Nah.” Alex simply waved it off.

“What do you mean no? What-”

Hounds took a moment to look around, and he realized that Alex was already in the road to the Bulletin Board.

“So… uh, Mr. K, isn’t it?” Hounds asked.  
“Mr. K, it is.” Alex confirmed.

  
  
After a couple more minutes, they were already in the town, on their way to cross the middle of the small city towards the Board.  
But they had to stop midway, as there was a commotion in the town, and a lot of Pokemon had gathered together in an emergency meeting.  
  


“...Funny thing,” A familiar voice said. Hounds pushed Alex along with him to take a closer look on who just said that. “I was just thinking about it last night.” Greens said.  
“So, because you’ve been thinking about it, what should we do to deal with Kyogre?” Another Pokemon said.  
“I guess we should send someone to negotiate with him, right?” Another said.  
“...Are you suggesting we send Team Roger?”  
“Yes?” Braviary enthusiastically, and admittedly a little annoyingly, joined the crowd. A couple distance behind him was Dragonair shaking his head and Meowstic, placing her paw across her face. “Is it for me..?” The tips of Braviary’s wings touched.

“Of course we’re going to send you.” Someone said. “After all, navigating difficult places is what you do, right?”

“And they say your team is the best team in the town!”  
“Bring a negotiator with you!”  
“I’ll be the negotiator.” Braviary said.  
  
Everyone fell silent.  
  
“...How do you plan to talk to him?” A voice said.  
After that, questions started blasting.  
  
“Eh. Let’s just get around them.” Alex said. He honestly didn’t really care anymore.  
“Alright, I guess.” Hounds answered.  
The two just stood there.  
“...What? Aren’t you going to-” Alex forcefully fell down on his back. He honestly didn’t care about the foot-dragging anymore either. Both of them knew that he could stand this for years, so they simply just kept on going. Until he shook his foot free.  
  
“What now?” Hounds said.  
Alex didn’t turn his head to him.  
“Hey,” Hounds continued. “I’m already tired of this, but can we at least move so I can get ourselves out of-”  
“She’s got nerves.” Alex unironically sounded a bit surprised, all of a sudden.  
“She- who?” Hounds turned to see whoever Alex was watching.

The crowd was circling around Team Roger…  
...and a masked Pokémon of some sort. She appeared to be confronting the professional team.  
They proceeded to get closer to them.

“...Woah, woah.” Braviary sounded surprised. “You really, and I mean really, got some guts to say that.”  
“Yes, and I don’t take it back.” The Pokémon said.

“Who’s that?” Alex asked Hounds.

“Believe me,” Hounds replied. “I don’t even know either.”

  
“And… who are you anyway?” Braviary pointed at her.

“...You don’t have to know.” Then she took off her mask, revealing a Dewott that… looks really pretty, Alex had to admit. “But you don’t get to know me either. I don’t need anything, so just say it was just a blessing from Arceus that he calmed down, please, thank you.”

Kyogre… Wait. Alex remembered that the voice in his dreams told him about having to face Kyogre, even wishing him luck, so maybe she wanted him to be the one to do it.

“...And what makes you think you can deal with him?” Braviary sounded genuinely confused.

“Haha…” The Dewott couldn’t contain her delight, somehow. “...Honestly, I don’t know either.” Not long after she finished, she put her mask back on and turned around, clearly not showing any concern for the bewildered, dumbfounded, and skeptical faces staring at her from the crowd, and walked back to where she came from, when she was blocked by a random Psyduck just… standing there.

“...Um, excuse me.” The Dewott said.  
“So you said you don’t know how you’re going to do it?” Alex spoke.  
“Yeah, what about it?” She replied.

The mentality of “Oh, I’ll sing a little tune and my dreams will come true” was always something Alex abhorred. To him, the biggest help that comes to people with that way of thinking is self-destruction. It was too reckless, and looks insanely foolish, or maybe Alex thought of it that way just because his life wasn’t exactly nice to him anyway. But the point is, it was incredibly stupid.  
But he wasn’t in front of this Pokémon today for that reason. He’s already taught himself to not show any form of concern for people who already set themselves to dig their own graves. Alright, maybe a little, but…

“Me and my ‘good buddy’ over here...” He brought Hounds to himself and wrapped his arms around him, which Hounds clearly wasn’t comfortable with. “...We’re also volunteering to confront Kyogre, for our own reasons. We’ve been struggling to come up with how do we do it, but…” His voice started to get less monotone, and more exaggerated. “...Your AMAZING speech you boldly delivered in front of the crowd has inspired us…” He was waving his hands all around at this point. “..and suddenly, we felt like we knew what to do, and you have given us courage. Me, him, we thought we could finally give it a shot today.”

“...Thank you.” The Dewott unironically and genuinely said, to Alex’s dismay.

“Hold on-” Braviary interrupted. “You guys are coming too? Like everyone has the guts to do everything now, huh? Come on, let’s give it up to our best buddies, Sir Blankie and-” He was silenced by a short and quick Thunderbolt from Meowstic.  
“...So, we take it that it’s a three-way competition?” Meowstic challenged.

The crowd leaned in closer towards the majestic six, all of them anticipating for a response, patiently and eagerly waiting, no matter how long, may it be hours, days, months, or even years it will take.

“...Eh.” Alex said. “Everyone’s eager for some mindless excitement and so am I, a bit, but-”  
“Alright, we accept your challenge then!” Dragonair announced.

...but that’s the problem, everyone is eager for mindless excitement, and there was no way in hell that people could just mind their own business and get the whole world some peace for once.

But… weh. Too late.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They may have been late, but after finally finishing their breakfasts, which they waited incredibly long for, thanks to the crowd and the time spent waiting for the food to be reprepared for them, Alex and Hounds just… Continued sitting there.

Alex doesn’t know what’s with the others, but he knew he was thinking about the events that unfolded back when they were surrounded by the crowd. Neither Alex nor Hounds could’ve heard a thing beyond the crowd’s applause and cheering. It all moved a bit too fast, and that was definitely not the ideal way to start the day. Especially when you haven’t eaten anything for breakfast prior.

...And then he remembered how he was able to see the young Dewott back then slip past the crowd smoothly, but he was honestly concerned about her, even to this hour. He didn’t mean to cause this much trouble to anyone, and he would never, still. But then again… Her stride always looked like normal walking.

...He’ll just play it safe and assume she was at least bummed out, though he may be wrong.

Anyways, the noise and multiple violations of personal space did take a bit more of a while to go through than he liked to admit…  
  
Then Alex shifted his focus. He noticed how P2 was intently watching them, and how it was just the three of them sitting at the table, still stuck there even after breakfast was all done. There was no talking during all this time, and the awkward moments of silence understandably started to piss him off.

“...By the way,” Alex broke the silence. “Sorry for dragging you into this.” He faced Hounds, but there was a bright and scorching fire burning in his eyes.  
“No, this is perfect.” Hounds grinned. “I’ve been itching to show those three losers for a long time…”  
“What about your break?”  
“Forget it. This is more important.”  
“Alright,” Alex replied. “Then I’m sorrier than ever that I let this happen.” He continued in a sarcastic tone. “Say, P2?”

“Yes, sirs?” P2 sounded as if he just started up from a shutdown.  
“P2, erm…” Alex said. “Do you happen to have any idea where Kyogre is?”  
“Tracking… Kyogre.” P2 started, moved from his seat, and walked towards the main room. Alex faced Hounds and nodded, and they followed him.

The team found P2 waving his bill around the map.

“... And the most recent information shows that Kyogre, the Sea Basin Pokémon, has a ninety percent chance of being spotted in a patch of Resilire Sea known as Seething Deep…” P2 stopped and pointed his beak towards somewhere in the middle of the sea to the left side of the town. “...known for its violent storms and unforgiving seas waiting to strike down an unlucky ship that happened to get lost.”

“Pack umbrellas then?” Alex said. “Just kidding.”

“It is apparently moving closer to Resilire Town at an alarming rate, and it is confirmed that this is the doing of Kyogre.” P2 said. “If the Seething Deep gets close enough to Resilire Town… Who knows what can happen?”

The sea does strike back after all.

“How do we prevent this- oh wait we probably know.” Alex spoke.

“What?!” Hounds objected.

“So, how do we reach Kyogre then?” Alex silenced Hounds.

“In the center of Seething Deep, legends say there lies an amazing temple that was made particularly for Kyogre by the ancestors of Resilire Town. This temple was never his main lair, but these days, you can, most of the time, find him there, if you had the guts to approach him.” P2 said. “If you were to ask me, this sounds like a task that surpasses even S-tier jobs.”

That last sentence only made the flame in Hounds’ eyes burn more than it already did.

“So I wonder if you are prepared to do this, and what are your motives for taking this task?” P2 asked. “This task is definitely not for the faint-hearted, or, I do not want to sound belittling but, this task is definitely not safe for the hands of Bronze ranks.”

The three just stood idly after that.

“...Heh, believe me,” Alex finally answered. “Facing the ocean is not going to be a difficult matter for an unstoppable duo like us.”  
“...What?” P2 responded.  
“You could say that this is pretty much a break for us.” Alex said.  
“Please elaborate.” P2 said. “What do you mean?”  
“A break from the more difficult parts of the legendary Team Team’s full journey.” Alex attempted to wrap his arms around Hounds again, but Hounds shook him off, this time.  
“...Are those the words that you are going to use as a mindset for this undertaking?” The pitch of P2’s voice was surely going places. “Because I truly do not understand at all.”

Alex chuckled.  
“You don’t have to.” He replied. “It’ll be over before you know it, P2.”  
“What?” P2’s systems couldn’t comprehend a thing. “What do you plan on doing?”  
  
Alex just smiled at P2 as he stared at him.

“...I dunno.”

They turned around, and before P2 knew it, they had already passed through the exit. They were gone.

  
  
  


Alex and Hounds walked through the city, uninterrupted by every outside influence. None of those will be relevant today. Their only focus was the path to the bulletin board.  
  
...And they came late, but not too late. Team Roger was already standing around the board.  
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come after all.” Braviary jeered. But frankly, Alex didn’t notice his words.

But Alex was still thinking of Braviary’s words, back when they were in the crowd.  
  
_“...Alright, we meet at the Bulletin Board. 11:50. There, we draw lots on who will go ahead to Seething Deep first. It’s either Team Roger, you losers, or that weird girl over there- Wait, where is she? Oh well. Too bad she probably won’t come. Not my fault. The lot-drawing ends at twelve. At exactly two, the chosen ones go.”_ _  
  
_

It’s 11:58.  
  
“Whew…” Braviary said. “Why are we even waiting for Miss Masked?”  
“Oh, she’ll be here.” Dragonair said. “Meowstic told me that she’s looking for her.”  
“...Correction, found her.” Meowstic said, accompanying the same Dewott. “She wasn’t even that hard to find, she was simply walking around casually. Strangely, she was around the shrine area. If you asked me, that is simply the worst hiding spot for someone who wanted to hide in this town, seeing as it’s the tourist attraction and all that.”  
“Wait- I was hiding?” The Dewott said. “No, no. I just wanted to see more of the town. I admire the buildings, and the tall shrine… And the many Pokemon-”  
“Alright, quiet down for a bit, sweetie, can you do that?” Meowstic said.  
The Dewott seemed to calm down. It was only a few seconds later that they realized she probably took it to herself to try not to make another sound again for the rest of the meeting after that request.  
“Um, sweetie?” Meowstic put her ear a little closer to the Dewott for a few seconds. “Oh darn, I didn’t tell you to hold your breath.”

“Alright, finally! The whole gang’s here.” Braviary stretched his limbs, providing obvious discomfort for his teammates beside him. “Now let’s make this quick, we only have minutes left. Dragonair?”  
Dragonair extended his tail, allowing everyone to pick the lots that he was carrying.

The Dewott was surprisingly the first one to pick. Braviary picked the second, and when all that was done, all they stared at was Double Team.  
“...Oh, it’s our turn?” Alex asked. He went to grab the remaining lots, but Hounds took it a split-second before he was able to touch it, in a split-second.  
“Too slow.” Hounds bragged.  
“Too sad.” Alex just waved it off.  
  
They all opened their lots.  
No Pokémon or human made a reaction... Until Braviary huffed.  
“O-o-ohhhh, so that’s how it is, huh?” Braviary sounded really annoyed. “Oh well, um- I- pros first, I guess?” He stormed away.  
  
“...Anyways, so say the numbers on your lots out loud, please?” Dragonair asked.  
  
“Three.” Hounds said.  
“Two.” The Dewott answered.  
  
“Alright, weird girl, you’re going tomorrow, if we fail.” Dragonair said. “But only if we fail.”  
“Alright, can’t wait!” The Dewott exclaimed.  
  
“Erm… Meowstic?”  
“Yes?”  
“You did explain the whole thing to her, right?”  
“I -umm…” Meowstic said. “Oh hey, Alex!”  
  
“Fuck off.” Alex said to Meowstic like it was nothing.  
“You’re here to save the world, soooooo you know what the problems are, right?” Meowstic continued. “You don’t mind if you explain the whole thing to her, do you?”  
“Do you know what ‘no’ means, Ho-”  
“Me and Dragonair over here is going to prepare to go to Deething Seep- I mean, Seeping Deeth, wait- umm… yeah we’re busy. See you!”  
All of Team Roger has finally left to do their own things. What remained was a confused Psyduck, an excited Houndour, and a masked Dewott. Minutes passed without sound of any sort…

...And oh how God-awful these weird and awkward moments of silence were to Alex, he couldn’t stand any of them anymore, and it was difficult to make him tired of things in the first place.  
“By the way, sorry for dragging you into this.” Alex said.  
“Huh? Why so?” The Dewott asked.

“...Let’s just say I saw you walk away.” Alex answered.

“Oh, that? It’s actually nothing, really.” She replied. “I just walked away because I felt a bit hungry, sorry to bother you. I wanted to buy something to eat for lunch…” She grabbed a small paper bag containing some berries. She put one of her paws in the bag, took out a Pecha berry, and moved the paw holding it under the mask for her to eat.

“This is pretty sweet!” She exclaimed. She went to grab another berry, and as Alex and Hounds went to walk away from the purest form of boredom, the bag of berries fell, spilling all of its contents, which gave Hounds a bit of a smirk. Alex also had a bit of a chuckle, but that didn’t stop him from giving young Pokémon a helping hand to pack the berries up again.

“Thank you.” She bowed a little after that was all done.

“Eh, not a problem.”

“Oh, umm that reminds me…” She continued. “I’ve never been into a competition before…”

“Me neither.”

“But… I really think it’s going to be fun.”

Oh dear. He already had enough thrilled kids in his life.  
  
“...Hey, kid.” Alex was pretty sure she was in the same age group as Hounds. The duality of fourteen to fifteen year-olds, man. Or what he likes to call, the easy ones. “So... what do you think is going to happen tomorrow?”  
  
“I know I’ll be going to a really stormy sea, and I’ll have to enter the underwater temple there, so I guess I’ll have to avoid all the strong ferals there. I can’t rely on attacks, and I’ll have to move really precisely to get past them, it’s a mostly-underwater dungeon after all…” The Dewott said. “It’ll take a couple floors to reach Kyogre, but I think there’ll be spaces of air, so I’ll be fine if I can hold my breath well.” Speaking of breaths, she took exactly five seconds to catch hers. “I don’t know how I’ll be dealing with Kyogre though… That’s what I’ll have to think of next.”  
  
“Huh.” Alex said. “You know, I expected some really stupid answer, but your blahblahblah sounds definitely more reasonable than Hounds.”  
“Hey!” Hounds exclaimed.  
“But are you sure you know your stuff?”  
  
“Yes, I’ve learned a lot of things from everywhere.” The Dewott continued as she ate another berry. “But I’ll admit I’m kind of hanging on to a single thread on this one… I don’t know that much on my mission here, haha…”  
  
“...What’s your name?” Alex disregarded what she said earlier about her identity.  
Fortunately, she didn’t mind either. She took off her mask.  
“My name is Devynne, but you can call me Devy.” She said. “Nice to meet you. What are yours?”  
  
“Alex.” He pointed to himself.  
“Hounds.” He pointed to Hounds.  
  
“It’s nice to meet all of you!” Devynne said.  
“Alright, enough with the greetings, fellow kids.” Alex said. “We’re taking you to our Team Base, where we’ll fill you in on the details.”  
  
“Oh, thanks!”  
“You just came here, didn’t you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Huh.” Alex said. “So you’re saying that you really want to help a town you haven’t even known a single thing about?”  
“I just want to show kindness to other Pokemon.” Devy said.  
“Me too, kid.”  
“...Everyone’s seriously considering themselves a hero?” Hounds objected. “To help those that can’t help themselves?”  
  
“I just noticed the crowd of Pokemon talking about problems.” Devy said. “I don’t need anything, I just want to share this light of mine.”  
Maybe the young Dewott has yet to learn more about the world and how it works… But honestly, Alex was interested in what she would end up doing. Let her stay and do her thing.  
  
“Alright, let’s go.” Alex led the way. The two other Pokemon followed, as they strolled through the city before them, though Devynne took a few detours in the trip.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“A visitor?” P2 said.  
“Yep.” Alex confirmed.  
“Enjoy your stay, visitor.”  
“Thanks!” Devynne said. “You too!”  
Alex, Hounds, and the team Porygon2 could only stare at the over-excited Wott.  
“...Oh, let’s just continue.” Alex guided everyone to the tables to the left of them.  
  
  


“...I-I, did I just…” Her scalchops hid her Cheri red face. Now what was the point of the mask? Oh well, you have to be careful with words sometimes.  
“By the way, Devynne.” Alex said. “You may at least have a clear idea on what you’ll be doing, but do you know exactly what you’ll do?”  
“Oh, umm, like I said…” Devy replied.  
“Don’t say ‘help’. That’s a motive, not the objective.” Alex said. “Or something, don’t know, don’t care. But hey, it’s a good motive, me too.”  
“What?”  
“...Nevermind.” Alex said. “But Honey told me you probably don’t know the details, so...”  
“Honey…” Devynne replied. “That’s her name? That’s a really nice name!”  
“Ah shit.” Alex laid his head on his hand. “Anyways yeah, all that, but don’t call her by her real name.”  
“Okay, got it.” She popped another berry in her mouth.  
  
“So. Let’s make this explanation quick, without further ado.” Alex continued. “Basically, Kyogre’s mad about his home being polluted.” He explained. “With similar things to, you know, what you’re holding.” He pointed at Devy’s paper bag.  
“Oh no.” Devynne said. “That’s really terrible to hear.”

“Yep, and he wants to destroy this town by moving a very stormy patch of the sea next to it. You probably know what that would do.” 

“...So we’re here to clean his home?” She took another berry.

“What?”

“The whole sea?”  
“...The whole sea?” Alex coughed. “But hey not going to lie here, great idea. That can actually make the problem small for decades.”

Devy took another berry.

“Some Pokemon have actually started working on cleaning the sea.” Hounds joined in. “I don’t know for how long, though.”

“Maybe we can help them.” Devynne said. “If we can clean the sea faster-”

“Kyogre’s actually going to bring the storm here faster before we even clean enough.” Hounds said, as Devy took another berry. “I don’t want to be downer though, I’m tired of that. So I’ll say that there’s another way, which involves the plan you were thinking of earlier. Taking a small visit and having a small chat with the literal god of the oceans.”

“Oh.” Devy said. “That seems better.”

“That was actually your first idea, before you got carried away.”

Devy took yet another berry.

“So yeah, that’s pretty much everything. Sea Basin Pokémon’s mad about a messy home that’s- CAN YOU STOP EATING BERRIES, FOR AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, FIVE SECONDS?!” Hounds couldn’t bear to hear another damned chewing sound from the heedless Dewott.

Alex took the bag of berries from her.

“Let me see that…” Hounds took it from Alex. “...Wait. It’s all Pecha berries?”

“...I… I like sweet things, alright? I’m umm…” Devynne’s paws touched. “I didn’t let myself eat anything sweet for a week, alright? Please give it back…”

Alex took the bag from Hounds, and reluctantly gave it to Devynne.

“Thank you!” She took yet another berry as she bowed a bit to Alex for… who knows how many times, really?

“Anyways, can we all wrap it up here?” Alex said. “So Devynne here knows the details, right?”

“Yes, thanks for making it simple for me to understand, Alex and Hounds!” Devynne… once again bowed to Alex.

“Not a problem kid.” Alex responded.

“...” The silence was filled with Devy’s Pecha berries.

“...So where do I go now?” Devy said.

“...Oh, umm… Home? I assume you have a home, right?” Alex said. “Of course you have a home, pretty much every Pokémon has a home of their own in any form.”

“Yes, but it’s actually pretty far from here.” Devy answered with a smile as she scratched her head. “Not that I’m complaining, but I just wanted to let you know, just in case, you know… anything.”

“Oh, ok.” Alex said. Though she hasn’t really said anything specific about where she lived, and he never asked for it or really cared either.

“Alright, see you guys tomorrow!” Devy waved. “Good luck to you guys, oh wait… We’re competing against each other, right? So umm, I…”  
“Oh, um yeah I guess? Good luck to you too, then.” Alex gave exactly one, just one wave back at her.

The strange Dewott has finally left the building.

“...Soooo Alex.” Hounds said. “What now?”  
“...Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.” Alex grinned at Hounds.  
“But we’re supposed to be busy, right?” Hounds replied. “I mean, we’re a rescue team, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Alex said. “But you do want to take a break, right? Besides, we might end up pulling off the biggest rescue that our two-member team will have ever made so far two days later, so we need a bit of time, I guess.”  
“Yeah, that would be cool.” Hounds said.

“Oh, and also- nevermind.” Alex was about to talk about how the rewards might be enough to get Hounds out of an unhappy business, but considering how determined Hounds already was, he decided he didn’t need to say it.

“What?”  
“Nevermind.”  
“Oh, come on.”

The afternoon sunlight was the only thing that illuminated the dinner room, and the two Pokemon took some time there to observe how beautifully planned out the base was built that allowed the outer lights to fill the whole room in an… afternoon-felt way.  
  
“Day-off.” Alex broke the silence once again.  
“Yes.” Hounds replied.

And so Alex and Hounds spent the rest of the day, rediscovering the many secrets of Resilire Town like they were there the first time. Alex, at least.

“...And this is the shrine.” Hounds pointed towards the statue of a Blaziken, which was in the center of a platform which extended from the town to the east. The platform was wonderful for observing the sea, and… Yes, the Seething Deep was noticeably nearer to them, but they wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with that until the day after tomorrow.  
“You know, I’ve heard of a tale from-” Hounds stopped suddenly.  
“From?” Alex asked.  
“...N-No one, really.” Hounds continued. “I’ve heard of a tale that said Resilire Town simply started off as a tent.”  
“A what?”  
“Follow me!” Hounds said as he dashed to the Resilire Town Square.

Hounds stopped his stride when he was right next to a circle spot in the middle of the town, but he certainly did not expect Alex to have been so ahead of him that he was standing on the circle for a couple seconds already when he turned to see his side.

“Oh, Alex.” Hounds said. “So, exactly where you’re standing, yes. A traveller simply prepared his tent in the middle of what was then nowhere.”  
“Well, that’s a hell of a way to start a town.” Alex said. “But then again, this is a hell of a world, so I believe it.” He unironically added.  
“It all started when he was about to leave the area and continue with his odyssey, but he noticed an injured Pokemon not too far from where he left his tent.” Hounds said. “So the traveller, who was a Blaziken, brought them into his tent, and allowed them to rest and recover for another night.”  
“Yeah, and what about it?”  
“It turned out that the Pokemon was a lost dungeon feral.”  
“Okay, so?”

“Apparently, the Pokemon came from a very far away dungeon, and unfortunately, it was difficult to get back there.” Hounds said. “They pretty much wanted to belong somewhere.”  
“Let me guess, the Blaziken decided to start a small town here so the Pokemon could be happy.” Alex guessed.  
“It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.” Hounds said. “But the Blaziken found out the ultimate key to making the town into an actual town, filled with Pokémon.”  
“And it was..?”

“During that time, many different villages and cities were always threatened by danger, whether it may be natural disasters, mythical Pokemon attacks, and…” Hounds gulped. “...Gardien raids.”  
“Raids?”  
“Eh, it’s all a long time ago,” Hounds shook it off. “Maybe I can tell you about it another day.”

“So what’s cool about that destruction and all?” Alex was seriously intrigued.  
“From learning about how the feral Pokemon found it difficult to get back to his home from there, the Blaziken thought that the disasters probably couldn’t reach the town either, because of the landforms that surrounded it and all.” Hounds answered. “It also helped that it was as easy as it is to live there as in other towns, just without the harshness that those other towns developed. It also turned out to actually have the upper hand in some marketing and stuff.”  
“Yeah, and about how a town you couldn’t enter was able to grow…”  
  
“The Blaziken did help solve all that.” Hounds said. “Any question you have, maybe ask an actual civilian of this town, and you’ll always get an answer that would probably make everything about it clear.”  
“Okay.” Alex said. “Wait, you said something about an actual ci-”  
“So, when the town was pretty much finished, and the foundations were set, the Blaziken simply left the town and continued in his odyssey.” Hounds said. “He promised the once feral Pokemon that he would return one day, but…”

“...What?”

“...The Blaziken never returned.”

“...”

“...Anyways, the feral Pokemon ended up being the first mayor of the town, and when he was older, he built…” He pointed to the statue in the distance with a single paw. “...that. Because honor and stuff.”  
“That’s a pretty cool origin story.” Alex said. “Some of it suspiciously sounds made-up, but no origin story can be too realistic.”  
“That’s the whole story, yeah.” Hounds said. “Alright, now I feel pretty tired.” He started walking back towards base.

“By the way, Hound.” Alex said.  
“Hounds.” He shot back.  
“Hound, Hounds, Potato, whatever.”  
“...What is a ‘Potato’?”  
“Doesn’t matter.” Alex continued. “...You said something about an odyssey. What was it about?”  
Hounds paused a bit before he answered. “...He was looking for Lovely Garden, just like we are.”  
  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Wow, this has been a day, while not being too much of a day, Alex thought. He got to learn all these certain things about Resilire Town and its little secrets, while screwing around at the same time.  
  
But the day is coming to an end, and now Alex is on his way to bring his dinner plate to Kenna once again. And… done.

Well, it’s time to go back to the base and get a good night’s rest, at least in front of the door. Maybe tomorrow, they could take a visit to… what was the town dojo’s name again? Oh right. Duskull Dojo. He remembered asking about how Ghost-types can run a literal physical training Dojo despite being, well, Ghosts, only to be given the answer of “I don’t know, haven’t tried it yet.” That’s sure to be an interesting experience, or maybe not. Oh well, he’ll just continue the wondering tomorrow. He turned around, walked away from the abandoned building with the canopy, headed for the base. He also happened to pass by-

He stopped cold, and turned around very slowly.

“...So it was you.” Kenna said as she also turned back to see him.

  
  


“Ahem, no.” Alex waved his hand at her, not caring if mind tricks worked or not. “It was all just a blessing from Arceus.” He remembered the words of Devy. Like honestly, what’s with that berry-gobbling kid? Anyways… “Have a good day.”

“...Ugh, yeah thanks.” Kenna outright muttered. “See you, uhh… weird Psyduck?”

Alex… didn’t move from his spot despite the farewell greeting.

“Hey kid.”

“What?”

“What’s up?”

“Erm, could you please leave me alone?” Kenna replied. “Though I appreciate the extra food, you’re making me feel… uncomfortable.”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. Maybe he ought to simply leave her alone for now.

“Alright, understood.” Alex said. “I won’t tell anyone though, but you live here, right?”

“...It’s the only place I could ever find.” Kenna sighed as she turned back to the obviously damaged house. It doesn’t even look like it’s completely finished with construction. “Why are you doing this? Who are you?”

Alex clicked his… He didn’t know if he could call it his tongue, though. “Ah, good question.” Alex approached her a bit. “I’m pretty much a nobody. Name’s Alex.” He answered. “Let’s just say I don’t have any other better idea on what I could be doing with my life.”

The messy Fennekin chuckled. “Kenna.” She replied. “I know why I’m fighting, but I don’t really know what I‘m doing either, honestly…”

“Oh hey, same here.” Alex said. “Alright, see you around, or maybe not, seeing as you don’t want me around anymore. Good luck on life.”

“...See you.” Kenna waved.

  
  
  


He may have been a couple minutes late for lights-out, but thankfully everyone else was sleeping, none able to notice that he was missing, when Alex finally made it back into the base. Then he made a deep exhale, knowing that he was able to handle the encounter smoothly, and proceeded to lay down in front of Hounds’ door for the seventh time in his new life.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh hey there… is there any other name you have, lady..?” Alex had been sitting around, waiting for what felt like thirty minutes in his mind space.

The voice giggled. “No, unfortunately…”

“...Oh.” Alex looked down.

“Did I mention that you’ve been doing pretty well in your first week?” She said.

“Thanks, lady voice thing.” Alex smiled.

“...Though is there one thing I can ask of you?” She asked.

“I think I can take it…” Alex answered.

“...Try lifting your head up more.” She said as Alex… felt his head tilt upwards.

“...”

“You have no reasons to doubt.”

“...I… I don’t deserve all this, so I’m thanking you so much.”

“It’s not a problem, Alex.” Lady voice thing said. “Also, you always deserved a better place.”

Then it faded to black.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...Hey, Alex!” A familiar voice woke him up. Alex opened his eyes, and somehow he was already downstairs. He’ll just assume that he’s gone through the door slam and down the stairs phase while he was still asleep. Thinking about it, Hounds probably didn’t need to drag him down the stairs, seeing as he was a bit closer to the stairs that night, he might have fell off on his own. Then after all those observations, unfortunately he accidentally glanced at Hounds’ face, and Alex thought it scarred his eyes and life forever. “Ha… You won’t believe this!” Hounds laughed.

Believe… What?

Alex tried to stand up so Hounds could explain more, but… ah, must be nice being dragged by foot towards everyone’s crap again every five seconds into the new morning. This is the life. 


	7. (not a chapter, just wanting to let you know)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Author's note)

Hiya there.

First things first, I want to truly thank you all for reading and supporting my fanfics. Seeing people enjoy the things I've worked on and seeing people really adore and deeply abhor the crazy characters I've come up with is one thing I will be forever grateful for.

But unfortunately, some things take time, and time isn't certain.

Over the past few months, I've come to realize that maybe... just like everything else I've done, I've completely lost my passion for writing. Or maybe I've completely lost my reason to continue a story I feel might have a story too twisted for many to accept.

Or... maybe I do need a break.

I truly apologize for the complete inactivity, and I acknowledge that I've let everyone who was waiting for more of Alex and Hounds' rescue mission attempts down.

I acknowledge that it has taken me too long to fully write a three-day arc. But maybe it's because I either simply do not enjoy writing anymore, **or I simply want to restart it all over again** , trying to do better after my long time in the shadows.

Who knows, I might end up restarting "Can't Help It" anew one day, however with a slightly different plot. A slightly different ending than originally planned.  
A slightly different journey for poor college student Alexis, but with the same familiar faces.

For now however, all it needs is to wait.  
I hope you understand.

\- ryan

(P. S: Feel free to contact me over Twitter as well, @ryanexhale if you have any questions.)


End file.
